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HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS 
TO  WRITE 


LONDON :  HUMPHREY  MILFORD 
OXFORD  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 


HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY 
LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

A  STUDY  IN  THE  TEACHING 
OF  THE   MOTHER  TONGUE 


BY 


ROLLO  WALTER  BROWN 


I 


CAMBRIDGE 
HARVARD  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 

1927 


COPYRIGHT,  1 9I 5 
HARVARD  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 

All  rights  reserved,  including  that  of  translation 
into  foreign  languages 

Sixth  Impression 


PRINTED  AT  THE  HARVARD  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 
CAMBRIDGE,  MASS.,  U.S.A. 


PREFACE 

Soon  after  I  began  teaching  English  nine  years  ago,  my 
acquaintance  with  several  French  textbooks  on  composition 
led  me  to  believe  that  it  might  be  profitable  to  study  the 
manner  in  which  the  French  deal  with  the  entire  problem  of 
learning  to  write.  In  1910  Wabash  College  granted  me  a 
year's  leave  of  absence  for  the  prosecution  of  such  a  study ; 
and  in  191 2  I  found  it  possible  to  carry  out  my  original 
plans.  Accordingly  I  went  to  France  and  devoted  the 
academic  year  to  visiting  classrooms  in  both  the  primary 
and  secondary  school  systems,  to  holding  conferences  with 
teachers  and  other  persons  interested  in  education,  and  to 
such  complementary  investigation  as  seemed  important. 
My  observations  were  made  in  schools  for  boys. 

The  current  programmes  of  study  in  the  different  subjects 
taught  in  the  French  secondary  schools  have  already  been 
translated  into  English;  and  some  parts  have  been  trans- 
lated repeatedly.  Moreover,  the  volume  of  Instructions 
issued  in  1909  for  the  guidance  of  secondary  teachers  has 
been  translated  and  published  by  the  British  Board  of 
Education  as  a  supplement  to  the  programmes.  So  far  as 
I  know,  the  present  programmes  for  primary  schools  have 
not  been  translated.  I  have  made  my  own  translations  of 
all  programmes  and  documents,  and  of  all  illustrative  pas- 
sages except  in  one  or  two  instances  mentioned  in  footnotes. 

A  study  based  so  largely  on  first-hand  observation  is  pos- 
sible only  through  the  kindness  and  the  cooperation  of  a 
great  number  of  educational  officers  and  a  still  greater 
"Z  number  of  teachers.      To  the  many  who  assisted  me  so 

p*  V 


vi  PREFACE 

generously  that  my  labor  was  not  only  fruitful  but  singu- 
larly enjoyable,  I  desire  to  extend  my  heartiest  thanks.  I 
am  especially  indebted  to  M.  Guist'hau,  formerly  Ministre 
de  V Instruction  publique  et  des  Beaux- Arts,  for  letters  that 
opened  the  way  to  the  different  academies  of  France,  and  for 
information  of  many  kinds;  to  M.  Liard,  vice-recteur  de 
VAcademie  de  Paris,  M.  Lyon,  recteur  de  VAcademie  de 
Lille,  M.  Payot,  recteur  de  VAcademie  d'Aix,  and  M.  Joubin, 
recteur  de  VAcademie  de  Lyon,  for  authorization  to  visit 
schools  in  their  respective  academies;  to  M.  Gustave  Lanson, 
professeur  a  la  Sorbonne,  for  many  valuable  suggestions  about 
beginning  my  work;  to  M.  Henri  Dupre,  professeur  au  Lycee 
Carnot,  Paris,  M.  Henri  Alline,  professeur  au  Lycee  Ampere, 
Lyon,  M.  Paul  Marie-Cardine,  professeur  adjoint  au  Lycee 
Janson  de  Sailly,  Paris,  M.  Faye,  professeur  a  VEcole 
Jean-Baptiste  Say,  Paris,  and  M.  Mercier,  instituteur 
public,  Paris,  for  their  very  substantial  assistance  in  my 
examination  of  the  written  work  of  different  classes  of 
pupils;  to  M.  Kuhn,  professeur  a  VEcole  normale  d'institu- 
teurs,  Paris,  for  certain  information  concerning  the  study  of 
the  mother  tongue  in  the  normal  schools;  to  M.  J.  Bezard, 
professeur  au  Lycee  Eoche,  Versailles,  and  M.  Lucien  La- 
vault,  proviseur  du  Lycee  Gassendi,  Digne,  for  unexampled 
though tfulness  about  numerous  matters  of  importance;  and 
to  M.  Charles  Wagner,  for  his  stimulating  interest. 

I  am  likewise  deeply  indebted  to  Professor  G.  L.  Kit- 
tredge,  Dean  L.  B.  R.  Briggs,  and  Professor  G.  P.  Baker,  of 
Harvard  University,  for  their  encouragement  and  good 
counsel  when  I  was  preparing  to  make  this  study;  to  Pro- 
fessor Raymond  Weeks,  of  Columbia  University,  for  many 
letters  of  introduction;  to  Professor  F.  E.  Farrington,  of 
Columbia  University,  not  only  for  the  profit  I  derived  from 
reading  his  books  on  French  education  before  I  went  to 


PREFACE  vii 

France,  but  also  for  personal  suggestions;  to  Professor 
N.  W.  Barnes,  of  De  Pauw  University,  and  Professor  J.  S. 
Kenyon,  of  Butler  College,  for  reading  parts  of  the  manu- 
script; to  Dr.  C.  J.  Masseck,  of  Washington  University,  for 
his  unfailing  interest  and  searching  criticism;  to  my  col- 
leagues, Dr.  Francis  Daniels  and  Mr.  Harold  Hawk,  for 
generous  assistance  of  many  kinds;  and  finally,  to  my  wife, 
not  only  for  aid  with  notes  and  manuscript,  but  also  for  her 
sustaining  inspiration. 

R.  W.  B. 

NOTE 

Prefatory  to  the  Sixth  Printing 

Certain  modifications  in  the  programmes  of  foreign  lan- 
guages in  the  French  secondary  schools  were  made  in  1923 
and  in  1925.  No  attempt  has  been  made  to  incorporate 
these  changes  in  the  groupings  outlined  on  page  16  of  this 
volume,  since  it  seems  more  fitting  to  have  the  volume  stand 
as  an  historical  record  of  the  period  treated;  but  the  fact 
that  there  have  been  changes  is  called  to  the  attention  of 
readers. 

R.  W.  B. 

1927 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  1 

PAGE 

Introduction 3 


CHAPTER  II 

The  Courses  of  Study  in  the  Mother  Tongue n 

I.  The  Bearing  of  the  Educational  System     ....  u 

II.  The  Programmes     14 

CHAPTER  III 

Composition 46 

I.  The  French  Attitude  toward  Composition  ....  46 

II.  Preliminaries  to  Composition 48 

A.  Enlarging  and  Organizing  the  Vocabulary  .    .  48 

B.  Dictation 57 

III.  Material  for  Themes 63 

A.  The  Emphasis  Placed  on  Good  Material  ...  63 

B.  The  Kind  of  Material  Assigned 65 

C.  The  Preparation  of  Material 75 

IV.  The  Criticism  of  Themes 79 

A.  Ideals  ln  Criticism 79 

B.  The  Method  of  Criticism 81 

C.  The  Spirit  of  the  Criticism 83 

D.  Economy  ln  Grading  Themes 84 

V.  The  Writing  and  Speaking  in  Other  Subjects  .    .  86 

VI.  Summary     89 


x  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  IV 
Grammar 90 

I.  The  Predominant  Purpose  in  Teaching  Grammar    .     90 
II.  The  Early  Beginning 91 

III.  Simplification 93 

A.  In  Subject-Matter 93 

B.  In  Classroom  Exercises 94 

C.  In  Nomenclature 96 

IV.  The  Close  Relation  of  Grammar  to  Other  Work  .     99 

A.  Through  the  Internal  Arrangement  of  Class 
Periods 100 

B.  Through  Oral  Exercises 102 

C.  Through  the   Use   of   Complete   Passages   of 
Prose 103 

D.  Through  Emphasis  on  the  Sentence 106 

V.  The  Influence  of  the  Inductive  Method    .    .    .    .107 

VI.  Historical  Grammar no 

CHAPTER  V 

Reading  and  Literature 114 

I.  What  the  Pupil  Reads 114 

II.  How  the  Pupil  Reads 118 

A.  In  the  Lower  Grades 119 

B.  In  the  Upper  Grades:  Explication  of  Texts    .  123 

1.  The  Method  of  Explication 123 

2.  An  Example  of  Explication 129 

3.  The  Value  of  Explication 148 

III.  Memory  Exercises  in  Reading  and  Literature  .    .  149 

IV.  The  Relation  of  Literature  to  Theme- Writing  .  152 

CHAPTER  VI 

Foreign  Languages 155 

I.  Latin 155 

A.  Classroom  Method 156 

B.  The  Dominant  Purpose  in  Teaching  Latin   .   .  159 
II.  The  Modern  Languages 162 

A.  The  Direct  Method 163 

B.  The  Direct  Method  and  the  Mother  Tongue    170 


CONTENTS  xi 

CHAPTER  VII 

The  French  Boy's  Teacher 174 

I.  The  Preparation  of  the  Teacher 175 

A.  Preparation  in  the  Primary  School  System     .  175 

B.  Preparation  in  the  Secondary  School  System  179 

II.  The  Teacher's  Position 185 

A.  His  Relation  to  the  State 185 

B.  His  Standing  in  the  Community 186 

C.  His  Life  within  the  School 187 

D.  Salaries 191 

E.  Pensions 194 

III.  Professional  Characteristics  of  the  Teacher   .    .  196 

A.  Conscientiousness 197 

B.  Enthusiasm     198 

C.  Ability  to  Question 199 

D.  Skill  in  Incidental  Teaching 201 

IV.  The  Teacher  and  his  School 203 

CHAPTER  VIII 

Organized  Language  Tradition 208 

I.  Organized  Tradition  in  France 208 

II.  The  Lack  of  Organized  Tradition  in  America   .    .210 

III.  Adjustments  Necessary  to  Organized  Tradition    .  212 

A.  In  Our  Educational  System 213 

B.  In  Pedagogical  Practice 216 

C.  In  Finding  and  Preparing  Teachers 229 

D.  In  the  Teacher's  Position 237 

IV.  The  Fundamental  Character  of  our  Needs    .    .    .239 

Appendix 243 

Index 255 


HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS 
TO  WRITE 


CHAPTER  I 


INTRODUCTION 


This  book  records  a  study  of  the  French  schools  that  was 
made  for  the  light  it  might  shed  on  the  teaching  of  English 
in  America.  In  addition  to  the  reasons  that  justify  com- 
parative studies  in  classroom  methods  generally,  one  other 
holds  in  this  case.  The  mother  tongue  is  at  once  a  "  sub- 
ject "  and  a  part  of  every  other  educational  activity.  Help- 
ing schoolboys  and  college  students  to  write  well  is  not 
merely  a  matter  of  teaching  courses;  it  is  a  problem  that  is 
intricately  related  to  our  entire  educational  scheme.  We 
shall  never  make  any  real  progress  simply  by  deciding  be- 
tween much  reading  and  little  in  a  given  semester,  between 
Hawthorne  and  George  Eliot  in  a  certain  year  in  the  high 
school,  between  daily  themes  and  weekly  themes,  or  between 
one  style  of  oral  composition  and  another,  important  as 
these  individual  matters  may  be.  Neither  shall  we  find  any 
happy  solution  in  the  mere  addition  of  one  or  two  assistants 
to  the  Department  of  English.  We  must  first  go  beyond 
all  these  perplexing  details  and  see  the  problem  in  its  en- 
tirety. We  must  understand,  moreover,  all  that  should  be 
done  in  order  to  make  the  teaching  of  English  effective. 
Then,  after  we  have  gained  a  clear  view  of  the  large  outlines 
of  the  problem,  and  after  we  have  decided  upon  a  general 
method  of  procedure,  we  must  work  out  the  details  in  accord- 
ance with  our  larger  view.  Nothing  of  very  great  conse- 
quence will  be  brought  to  pass  if  our  efforts  are  scattered 
and  antagonistic  or  if  we  spend  all  of  our  spare  time  in 
trying  to  say  something  caustic  about  what  somebody  else 


4   HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

in  our  own  field  has  done  or  has  proposed  to  do.  There 
must  be  greater  singleness  of  direction  in  our  work.  It 
was  in  the  hope  that  I  might  help  in  some  small  measure 
to  bring  about  a  more  fruitful  organization  of  effort  in 
America  that  I  conceived  and  carried  out  the  plan  of  observ- 
ing how  pupils  learn  to  write  in  another  country. 

To  be  sure,  we  must  work  out  our  own  American  prob- 
lems. We  cannot  hope  to  adopt  bodily  any  very  large  part 
of  the  system  or  the  methods  employed  elsewhere.  Yet 
when  we  bear  in  mind  the  diversified  educational  interests 
that  the  newness  of  our  country  has  forced  upon  our  atten- 
tion during  the  past  few  decades,  it  need  not  be  any  reflec- 
tion on  our  efforts  if  we  wonder  whether  an  older  country 
might  not  still  be  able  to  teach  us  many  things  about 
developing  a  boy's  ability  to  express  himself.  We  may  be 
led  to  see  where  changes  could  be  made  to  advantage,  even 
though  the  other  country  suggest  no  way  of  making  any 
change;  we  may  see  in  some  instances,  perhaps,  how  the 
change  ought  to  be  made ;  and  in  a  wide  variety  of  instances, 
we  are  certain  to  see  where  our  own  judgment  has  been 
corroborated  by  the  practice  of  teachers  who  have  been 
working  quite  independently  of  us  and  our  peculiar  needs. 
We  cannot  fail  to  go  about  our  work  with  surer  confidence 
if  we  know  how  the  teachers  in  another  country  have  gone 
about  theirs. 

France  affords  special  advantages  for  a  study  of  this  kind. 
To  begin  with,  the  French  boy  has  for  a  long  time  borne  the 
reputation  of  being  a  good  writer;  and  any  reasonably 
thorough  inquiry  into  the  matter  will  convince  one  that  the 
reputation  is  well  merited.  There  may  be  some  who  doubt 
whether  the  French  boy  writes  as  well  to-day  as  he  did 
twenty  or  thirty  years  ago  —  although  I  found  few  French 
educators  who  believe  there  has  been  any  noticeable  deterio- 


INTRODUCTION  5 

ration  among  boys  of  the  same  native  ability  and  social 
class  —  yet  according  to  American  standards,  he  writes 
well.  If  a  great  many  specimens  of  written  work  done  in 
different  parts  of  France  form  a  basis  for  judgment,  he 
writes  with  greater  grammatical  correctness,  sharper  accu- 
racy of  thought,  surer  and  more  intelligent  freedom,  and 
greater  regard  for  good  form  and  finish,  than  does  the  Ameri- 
can boy  of  the  same  age. 

Secondly,  whatever  skill  the  French  boy  may  possess 
must  be  attributed  in  large  part  to  generations  of  training. 
For  two  centuries,  at  least,  the  French  people  have  placed 
emphasis  upon  the  importance  of  good  speaking  and  writing. 
It  is  now  almost  a  century  and  a  half  since  Rivarol  made  his 
striking  declaration,  "  That  which  is  not  clear  is  not 
French."  With  the  extension  of  both  the  primary  and 
secondary  schools  in  the  nineteenth  century,  this  ideal 
ceased  to  be  that  of  the  few  and  became  that  of  the  many. 
The  old  theory,  superstitiously  accepted  in  America,  that 
through  a  combination  of  the  French  boy's  superior  intelli- 
gence and  some  sort  of  magic  in  his  native  language  he  has 
been  able  to  express  himself  with  an  ease  and  accuracy 
impossible  in  other  tongues,  cannot  be  taken  seriously. 
The  French  boy  can  scarcely  be  said  to  be  the  superior  of 
the  American  boy  in  intelligence,  and  although  his  mother 
tongue  has  some  well-known  advantages,  especially  in 
matters  of  brevity  and  neatness,  it  has  so  many  shortcom- 
ings that  it  cannot  be  regarded  as  a  medium  of  miraculous 
character.  Moreover,  the  French  language  is  not  easily 
learned  well,  even  by  the  native  French  mind;  and  merely 
for  purposes  of  accepted  everyday  use,  it  is  not  mastered 
without  much  systematic  study.  It  seems,  then,  more 
reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  training  which  enables 
barbers,   cobblers,  messenger  boys,  autobus  conductors, 


6  HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

grocers,  and  waitresses  to  explain  questions  of  grammatical 
and  rhetorical  usage,  has  also  helped  to  provide  them  with 
a  conscience  which  in  large  measure  holds  them  to  accurate 
speech  and  writing. 

If  further  evidence  on  this  point  were  required,  it 
might  easily  be  found  in  the  progress  made  by  American 
boys  who  live  in  France  and  study  English,  as  well  as 
French,  in  the  public  schools.  In  the  course  of  the  inves- 
tigation recorded  in  the  following  pages,  I  sought  out  the 
parents  of  a  large  number  of  these  boys  and  questioned 
them,  as  well  as  the  boys  themselves,  concerning  the  re- 
sults attained.  Almost  without  exception,  both  the  pupils 
and  the  parents  were  enthusiastic  in  their  responses.  The 
boys  had  caught  some  of  the  French  classroom  spirit  of 
work;  and  the  parents  marveled.  They  explained  in  some 
instances,  as  though  it  were  rather  a  serious  reflection  on 
the  schools,  that  pupils  had  to  work  harder  than  they  did 
in  America;  but  they  invariably  added  that  with  the  in- 
creased work  came  greater  skill  in  both  French  and  English. 
Their  observation  of  specific  cases  only  corroborates  reason 
and  the  study  of  large  numbers  of  pupils  by  schools.  No 
one,  in  truth,  who  remains  in  the  atmosphere  of  the  French 
classroom  for  a  year  or  two  can  continue  to  believe  that 
pupils'  ability  to  write  is  wholly,  or  even  chiefly,  a  simple 
matter  of  predestination.  The  schools  must  have  their 
due. 

Just  now  there  is  another  important  reason  why  a  study 
of  this  kind  in  France  ought  to  be  profitable  to  us  in 
America.  This  reason  grows  out  of  the  new  political  and 
educational  life  of  the  French  people  since  1870.  Since 
this  period  of  the  Franco-Prussian  War,  there  has  been  an 
inclination  in  our  own  country  to  look  upon  France  as  a 
nation  whose  achievements  belong  wholly  in  the  past. 


INTRODUCTION  7 

This  attitude  I  encountered  several  years  ago  when  I  first 
informed  some  friends  that  I  hoped  to  spend  a  year  in  the 
French  schools  studying  certain  educational  problems. 
They  expressed  surprise  that  one  should  look  upon  France 
as  having  anything  to  contribute  to  present-day  life.  And 
their  attitude  represents  a  widespread  misapprehension 
among  a  part  of  the  American  people.  They  regard  the 
France  of  to-day  as  a  nation  made  up  chiefly  of  milliners, 
ladies'  tailors,  long-haired  artists,  and  "  decadent,"  ab- 
sinthe-drinking poets  who  live  a  life  of  sensuous  ease, 
glorying  in  the  nation's  past  and  forgetting  its  present  and 
its  future.  Quite  naturally  they  ask  what  we  intense, 
matter-of-fact  Americans  can  learn  from  such  a  people. 
This  view,  unfortunately,  disregards  many  of  the  French- 
man's most  characteristic  qualities,  his  most  firmly  fixed 
ideals,  and  above  all,  his  tremendous  progress  in  the  last 
forty  years.  Smarting  under  the  humiliation  of  defeat  at 
arms,  he  has  been  busily  engaged  in  regenerating  his  nation 
in  many  important  respects.  The  immediate  presence  of 
such  a  powerful  enemy  as  the  German  Empire  has  served 
as  a  stimulus  to  the  closest  industry.1  And  while  we  have 
been  shouting  from  the  housetops  about  our  bigness,  our 
liberty,  the  magnificence  of  our  university  "plants,"  the 
glory  of  our  schools,  and  the  size  of  our  educational  meet- 
ings, France  has  been  very  diligently,  very  modestly  work- 
ing out  many  of  the  problems  that  in  America  remain  largely 
unsolved  and  in  some  instances  almost  untouched. 

The  present,  therefore,  is  an  opportune  time  for  such 
a  study.  The  changes  that  have  been  taking  place  in 
France  have  resulted  in  a  more  effective  scheme  of  educa- 
tion, and  they  cannot  be  said  to  have  destroyed  anything 

1  This  Introduction,  as  well  as  most  of  the  later  chapters,  was  written 
before  the  outbreak  of  the  present  European  war. 


8     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

that  the  spirit  of  the  times  would  justify  keeping.  There 
has  been  no  "  breaking  down  "  of  French  culture,  as  we  are 
occasionally  asked  to  believe,  but  only  a  well-considered, 
logical  effort  to  adapt  culture  to  the  conditions  that  have 
arisen  in  France,  as  elsewhere,  because  of  new  economic  and 
social  demands. 

Just  now  we  are  in  a  position  to  see,  then,  what  the  French 
have  discarded  as  faulty  or  relatively  unessential,  what 
they  are  still  doubtful  about,  and  what  has  met  with  their 
approval  so  thoroughly  that  they  have  held  to  it  firmly,  even 
though  it  be  old.  If  it  appears  that  I  dwell  chiefly  upon 
things  that  merit  approval,  rather  than  upon  the  doubtful 
or  the  faulty,  it  need  only  be  borne  in  mind  that  my  chief 
aim  is  to  point  out  what  seems  to  contribute  to  successful 
teaching.  Weaknesses,  even  absurdities,  have  existed  and 
still  exist  in  French  education;  but  in  the  present  study, 
most  of  these  would  be  irrelevant. 

One  word  of  caution:  We  should  not  be  misguided  into 
believing  that  French  educational  affairs  are  in  a  chaotic 
state  simply  because  French  educators  sometimes  cry  out 
against  one  another  and  one  another's  methods.  In  the 
first  place,  no  organization  as  large  as  a  nation's  body  of 
teachers  can  be  free  from  disagreement  if  the  members  are 
inquiring  and  conscientious.  This  we  may  see  by  look- 
ing at  ourselves.  Any  unprejudiced  foreigner  who  might 
chance  to  read  the  American  newspapers  received  at  any 
European  capital  during  the  Christmas  holidays  would  be 
convinced  by  the  accounts  of  our  numerous  educational 
meetings  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  us  to  continue  our 
work  of  training  the  youth  of  the  land  unless  many  violent 
reforms  were  made  immediately  in  almost  every  part  of  our 
educational  system.  Yet  after  the  holidays,  our  schools 
go  on,  as  we  all  know,  very  much  as  they  did  before  the 


INTRODUCTION  9 

meetings.  There  must  always  be  some  of  this  diversity  of 
opinion  on  matters  of  importance;  and  so  in  France.  In 
the  second  place,  the  French  teachers  are  sincerely  very 
modest  about  their  attainments,  and  often  think  some  one 
else  must  be  able  to  do  a  given  task  better  than  they  can, 
simply  because  they  themselves  see  how  far  their  own  work 
falls  short  of  perfection.  Again,  because  the  Frenchman 
enjoys  exercising  his  ability  to  reason  clearly  and  sharply, 
he  is  sometimes  led  to  discuss,  with  much  spirit,  questions 
that  are  of  relatively  little  moment.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  many  of  the  heated  arguments  on  educational  ques- 
tions in  France  to-day  are  due  chiefly  to  one  quality  of  the 
French  character :  the  Frenchman  has  the  ability  —  more 
than  any  other  European,  I  believe  —  to  stand  off  and  look 
at  himself  as  others  see  him.  He  can  take  the  point  of  view 
of  other  people  and  criticise  himself  in  order  that  he  may 
improve  in  some  particular  respect.  Thus  it  comes  about 
that  just  now  the  Frenchman  is  looking  at  himself  from  the 
point  of  view  of  the  Englishman,  and  is  encouraging  out- 
door sports  among  the  school  pupils.  He  is,  despite  the 
influence  of  long,  firmly-established  traditions,  reasonably 
open-minded  —  at  least  in  educational  matters;  and  he 
stands  ready  to  learn  not  only  by  the  observation  of  other 
people,  but  by  the  analysis  of  his  own  experience.  I  have 
sometimes  thought  him  less  charitable  toward  himself  and 
his  fellow  countrymen  than  toward  the  people  of  any  other 
nation. 

In  the  chapters  that  follow,  the  chief  aim  is  to  show  how 
the  educational  system  that  has  reached  its  highest  perfec- 
tion under  the  quickened  French  life  of  the  past  half- 
century  serves  as  a  powerful  means  of  fortifying  the  language 
tradition  that  was  fostered  in  a  smaller  way  in  the  earlier 
schools.     It  is  not  the  purpose  of  the  book  to  give  an  his- 


io     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

torical  view  of  the  teaching  of  the  mother  tongue,  but 
rather  to  point  out  how  the  accumulated  experience  of 
French  educators  is  applied  to-day.  Accordingly,  the  chap- 
ters consider  (i)  the  full  outline  of  the  course  of  study  in 
composition,  grammar,  and  literature;  (2)  the  carrying  out 
of  the  different  parts  of  this  course  in  the  classroom;  (3)  the 
influence  of  the  teaching  of  foreign  languages  on  the  pupil's 
skill  in  using  his  native  tongue;  (4)  the  French  boy's 
teacher;  and  (5)  the  results  of  the  methods  employed  in 
perpetuating  good  speech  and  writing,  and  the  possibility  of 
attaining  some  of  these  results  in  America. 

I  have  striven  for  the  larger  kind  of  accuracy  and  truth. 
It  is  not  possible,  I  am  aware,  to  generalize  with  certainty 
on  most  wide  subjects;  but  in  this  instance  much  of  the 
difficulty  is  removed  by  the  fact  that  the  French  educa- 
tional system  is  closely  organized.  Whatever  faults  it  may 
have,  it  has  at  least  the  merit  of  sending  the  entire  country 
in  the  same  educational  direction.  Generalizations  are, 
therefore,  a  little  less  hazardous.  Of  course,  some  parts  of 
the  book  are  impression;  they  profess  to  be  nothing  more, 
and  need  not  be  accepted  if  the  reader  believes  the  facts 
presented  justify  other  conclusions.  I  have  made  no  effort 
to  reduce  everything  to  documentary  evidence  and  tables 
of  statistics.  Instead  of  giving  merely  the  framework  of 
programmes  and  courses,  with  occasional  comment,  I  have 
sought  to  reveal  the  everyday  practice  of  teachers  —  the 
practice  that,  after  all,  shapes  the  pupil's  habits  of  mind  — 
and  to  suggest  the  point  of  view,  the  moving  spirit,  of  the 
nation's  educational  life. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE   COURSES   OF  STUDY  IN  THE   MOTHER 
TONGUE 

I.  THE  BEARING  OF  THE  EDUCATIONAL  SYSTEM 

In  order  to  understand  the  following  programmes  of  study, 
it  is  necessary  to  keep  in  mind  two  distinct  characteristics 
of  the  French  educational  system.1  The  first  of  these  is  the 
close,  highly  centralized  organization.  All  educational 
affairs  are  under  the  direction  of  one  office,  which  is  pre- 
sided over  by  the  Minister  of  Public  Instruction.  The 
Minister  is  a  regular  member  of  the  national  cabinet,  and  is, 
therefore,  not  likely  to  continue  in  office  for  a  long  period; 
but  the  directeurs  who  have  charge  of  the  different  grades  of 
education  2  —  and  they,  it  must  be  said,  really  carry  on  the 
work  of  the  office  —  usually  hold  their  positions  for  a  long 
period  of  years.  The  important  divisions  of  the  country 
for  carrying  on  educational  administration  are  the  acad- 
emies, areas  usually  larger  than  our  largest  counties  but 
scarcely  so  large  as  our  Far- Western  congressional  districts. 
Of  these  there  are  sixteen3  in  all,  and  each  is  presided  over 
by  a  redeur,  who  is  at  once  the  head  of  the  university  in  the 

1  One  can  gain  a  fairly  good  notion  of  French  educational  organization 
simply  by  leafing  through  the  Annuaire  de  VInstruction  publique  referred  to 
in  the  Appendix.  For  an  exhaustive  treatment  of  the  subject,  see  Professor 
F.  E.  Farrington's  French  Secondary  Schools  and  his  The  Public  Primary 
School  System  of  France,  also  listed  in  the  Appendix.  For  a  brief  historical 
view,  see  Chapter  VII  of  Monsieur  A.  L.  Guerard's  French  Civilization  in  the 
Nineteenth  Century  (The  Century  Company). 

2  Directeur  de  l'Enseignement  supSrieur;  Directeur  de  l'Enseignement 
secondaire;  Directeur  de  l'Enseignement  primaire. 

3  Seventeen  when  one  counts  Algeria. 


12     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

academie  and  the  general  superintendent  of  all  the  lower 
schools.  Under  him  are  a  number  of  inspectors  who  devote 
their  time  to  visiting  schools,  reporting  upon  the  conditions 
they  find,  and  making  recommendations  for  promotions. 
And  finally,  under  the  inspectors  are  the  rank  and  file  of  the 
teachers.  Now  the  Minister,  assisted  by  his  directeurs 
and  surrounded  by  a  great  body  of  educational  and  legal 
advisers,  keeps  in  close  and  constant  touch  with  the  recteur 
in  each  of  the  different  academies;  and  the  recteur  in  turn, 
through  his  academie  inspectors  and  special  inspectors  for 
lower  primary  schools,  reaches  every  school  within  his  juris- 
diction. Moreover,  in  order  that  the  same  general  stand- 
ards may  be  maintained  throughout  the  country,  a  number 
of  inspectors-general,  the  direct  representatives  of  the 
Minister's  office  in  Paris,  travel  about  in  the  different 
academies  and  report  on  conditions  as  they  see  them  in  the 
large.  Such  an  educational  scheme,  profitable  as  a  field  of 
study  for  anyone  who  is  interested  in  questions  of  school 
administration,  is  significant  for  us  because  it  gives  the 
teaching  of  the  mother  tongue  a  close  unity.  One  can  study 
the  programmes  and  know  that  they  represent  the  whole 
country;  and  one  can  easily  understand  why  a  given  pro- 
gramme is  so  perfectly  organized. 

The  second  distinct  characteristic  of  the  school  system  is 
the  dual  organization  of  all  instruction  below  the  university. 
Instead  of  an  elementary  school  with  a  high  school  built 
upon  it,  as  we  have  in  America,  the  French  have  two  dis- 
tinct systems  running  parallel  from  the  lowest  grades  to  the 
end  of  the  school  courses.  It  is  true  that  they  call  one  of 
these  primaire  and  the  other  secondaire,  but  the  terms  are 
used  in  a  sense  altogether  different  from  our  primary  and 
secondary  and  should  not  be  confused  with  them.  Roughly 
speaking,  the  French  secondary  instruction,  though  inevi- 


THE  COURSES  OF  STUDY  13 

tably  changing  somewhat  in  its  character,  corresponds  to 
our  so-called  liberal  culture  training  in  America.  The  boys 
who  study  in  the  secondary  schools  are  those  who  want  as 
well-rounded  an  education  as  they  can  get  before  becoming 
candidates  for  the  bachelor's  degree,  or  they  wish  to  prepare 
for  more  advanced  study  in  one  of  the  faculties  of  the  uni- 
versity. The  primary  instruction,  on  the  other  hand,  is 
intensely  practical  in  character,  corresponding  in  the  upper 
grades  to  the  work  in  our  vocational  or  manual  training  high 
schools.  The  boys  who  pursue  their  studies  in  the  primary 
system  are  ordinarily  those  who  wish  or  need  to  be  able  to 
earn  a  livelihood  as  soon  as  possible,  or  who  desire  to  prepare 
themselves  for  the  higher  schools  of  arts  and  trades  or  for 
one  of  the  primary  normal  schools.  Quite  naturally,  there 
is  a  social  division  as  well.  In  fact,  it  would  be  scarcely  too 
much  to  say  that  the  essential  distinction  is  social.  The 
son  of  the  lawyer,  or  physician,  or  university  professor,  or 
well-to-do  business  man,  is  likely  to  approach  school  train- 
ing in  a  spirit  of  greater  deliberation  than  is  the  son  of  a 
drayman  or  plasterer,  and  he  may  want  to  acquire  knowl- 
edge of  subjects  that  would  not  be  of  any  great  utilitarian 
benefit.  He  goes,  therefore,  to  the  secondary  school,  the 
lycee.  The  son  of  the  blacksmith,  the  carpenter,  the  gar- 
dener, or  the  shopkeeper  has  not  the  money  to  pay  the 
small  tuition  fee  charged  in  the  secondary  school,  he  per- 
haps will  be  required  to  go  to  work  as  soon  as  he  has  ful- 
filled the  requirements  of  the  law  at  the  age  of  thirteen,  — 
the  end  of  the  middle  division  of  the  primary  course,  —  and 
his  interests,  growing  out  of  the  interests  of  his  family,  are 
mostly  utilitarian.  He  goes,  therefore,  to  the  primary 
school.  It  is  true  that  the  course  in  the  secondary  school 
system  makes  provision  for  the  transfer  of  boys  from  the 
primary  system  at  the  age  of  nine  or  ten;  yet  a  very  small 


14     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

number  make  the  change.  The  practical  difficulties  of  going 
to  a  secondary  school  are  frequently  too  great,  and  then 
there  is,  I  found  in  talking  with  pupils,  a  mild  disdain  for 
pupils  who  are  being  educated  in  the  other  system,  which- 
ever it  happens  to  be.  As  a  result,  the  division  is  rather 
sharply  drawn,  and  it  modifies,  we  shall  see,  the  course  in 
the  mother  tongue. 

II.  THE  PROGRAMMES 

The  programmes  should  be  studied  carefully.  They  have 
been  worked  out  in  such  detail,  and  they  are  followed  by 
teachers  with  such  fidelity,  that  they  constitute  a  real  begin- 
ning for  the  study  of  classroom  practice.  Perhaps  a  few 
observations  will  make  them  more  immediately  clear.  The 
programmes  for  secondary  schools  were  adopted  in  1902  and 
became  effective  the  following  year.  Before  that  time 
there  was  a  pronounced  feeling  that  the  secondary  schools 
were  not  meeting  the  educational  needs  of  the  day.  An 
attempt  was  made,  therefore,  to  readjust  the  programmes 
in  the  various  subjects,  and  to  find  a  proper  balance  between 
Classical  and  "  modern  "  education.  All  recitation  periods, 
too,  were  fixed  at  one  hour,  instead  of  one  and  two.  In  the 
readjustment,  the  work  in  the  mother  tongue  was  newly 
emphasized  and  the  course  was  more  definitely  fixed  than 
it  had  been  under  the  older  programmes.  The  present 
primary  school  programmes  were  adopted  in  1887,  modified 
in  1890,  in  1894,  in  1897,  in  1898,  and  again  in  1909. 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  course  in  the 
secondary  system,  that  is,  in  the  lycee,  though  no  longer 
when  measured  in  years  than  the  American  course  through 
the  high  school,  is  long  enough,  in  days  and  hours  and  the 
work  actually  done,  to  carry  a  student  almost  to  the  end  of 
his  sophomore  year  in  an  American  college.     During  the 


THE  COURSES  OF  STUDY  15 

last  year,  since  the  student  devotes  his  time  to  a  special 
course  in  either  philosophy  or  mathematics,  he  receives  no 
systematic  training  in  the  mother  tongue.  In  the  primary 
course  of  study,  which  may  be  regarded  roughly  as  a  year 
shorter  than  the  secondary  course,  the  student  receives 
systematic  training  up  to  the  very  end  of  the  last  year.  It 
may  be  said,  then,  that  the  French  boy  has  regular  instruc- 
tion in  his  own  tongue  from  the  day  he  enters  school  till  the 
end  of  a  period  corresponding  to  the  freshman  year  in  our 
colleges.  Of  course,  if  he  then  goes  to  any  of  the  higher 
special  schools  or  to  the  university,  he  is  almost  certain  to 
have  a  great  deal  more  than  this ;  but  this  much  at  least  he 
is  sure  to  have. 

It  should  be  observed,  too,  that  the  instruction  in  the 
mother  tongue,  even  to  the  end  of  both  the  primary  and 
secondary  courses,  includes  not  only  literature,  but  gram- 
mar and  composition.  In  other  words,  the  mother  tongue 
is  treated  as  one  subject  made  up  of  different  parts  —  as  it 
always  should  be  treated  —  and  not  as  two  or  three  or  four 
different  subjects.  This  does  not  mean  that  one  part  of  the 
subject  is  regarded  as  being  just  as  important  as  another,  or 
that  one  part  should  receive  the  same  relative  consideration 
throughout  the  course.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  one  of  the 
striking  features  of  the  programmes  is  the  skillful  manner 
in  which  some  divisions  of  the  subject  are  made  to  increase 
steadily  in  importance  up  through  the  school  course  while 
others  just  as  gradually  decrease.  But  there  is  no  com- 
plete putting  aside  of  grammar  for  composition,  or  com- 
position for  literature,  simply  because  some  teacher  or  group 
of  teachers  may  prefer  composition  to  grammar,  or  litera- 
ture to  composition. 

The  unity  of  the  course  is  revealed  also  in  the  close  con- 
tinuity of  the  work  from  year  to  year.     If  the  pupil  remains 


1 6     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

in  one  school  system,  or  changes  from  one  to  the  other  early 
in  his  school  career,  there  is  no  break  in  methods  or  ideals  as 
there  often  is  with  us  when  a  pupil  enters  high  school,  or  as 
there  is  certain  to  be  when  he  leaves  high  school  and  enters 
college.  Continuity  is  looked  upon  as  being  so  essential  to 
the  most  effective  work,  that  teachers  of  the  different  grades 
in  a  lycee  are  required  to  meet  regularly  and  discuss  what 
they  are  doing,  so  that  there  will  be  no  untouched  topics,  no 
unbridged  chasms,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  no  needless  over- 
lapping. In  this  manner  every  teacher  of  the  mother  tongue 
knows  with  reasonable  definiteness  what  a  boy  has  accom- 
plished before  he  enters  a  given  class  and  what  will  be  ex- 
pected of  him  after  he  goes  from  it  to  the  next  one  above. 
And  all  the  teachers,  through  this  close  knowledge  and 
through  discussions  of  the  exercises,  compositions,  and 
readings  suitable  to  the  different  grades,  are  enabled  with- 
out sacrificing  their  individuality  to  give  common  direction 
to  their  work. 

In  reading  the  programmes,  one  should  not  fail  to  note 
that  the  system  of  numbering  the  grades  in  the  secondary 
course  is  different  from  that  employed  in  American  schools. 
Thus  Class  Seven  does  not  mean  the  seventh  class  from  the 
beginning  as  in  our  grades,  but  the  seventh  class  from  the 
end;  and  Class  One  does  not  refer  to  a  beginning  class,  but 
to  the  last  class  (save  the  special  year  of  mathematics  or 
philosophy). 

From  the  beginning  of  Class  Six  to  the  end  of  Class 
Three,  the  secondary  course  is  in  two  divisions.  Division 
A  centres  about  the  Classics,  and  Division  B  about  the 
modern  languages.  From  the  beginning  of  Class  Two  to 
the  end  of  the  programme,  the  course  is  in  four  divisions : 
A  (Latin-Greek),  B  (Latin-Modern  Languages),  C  (Latin- 
Science),  and  D  (Science-Modern  Languages).    The  study 


THE  COURSES  OF  STUDY  17 

of  the  mother  tongue  is  essentially  the  same  in  the  different 
divisions. 

In  translating  the  programmes  of  study  I  have  included 
all  footnotes  that  accompanied  the  original  text.  Any 
notes  that  I  have  added  are  enclosed  in  brackets.  In  order 
to  render  comparison  less  difficult,  I  have  made  the  sub- 
headings in  the  earlier  years  of  the  secondary  course 
conform  in  arrangement  and  type  to  the  corresponding 
subheadings  in  the  primary  course.  I  have  also  indicated 
the  approximate  age  of  pupils  in  all  instances  where  this 
information  was  not  included  in  the  original. 


1 8     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

PRIMARY  SCHOOL  SYSTEM 

the  lower  primary  schools 

Beginning  Course 

(From  five  to  seven  years  of  age.    Ten  hours  a  week.) 

Reading:    First  exercises  in  reading.  — Letters,  syllables, 
words. 

Penmanship:  First  elements. 

French  language:  Combined  exercises  in  language,  reading, 
and  penmanship,  preparing  the  way  to  orthography. 

(i)  Oral  exercises: 

Very  familiar  questions  designed  to  lead  the  pupils  to 
express  themselves  clearly;  the  correction  of  faults  of  pro- 
nunciation or  local  accents. 

(2)  Memory  exercises : 

Recitation  of  very  short  bits  of  poetry. 

(3)  Written  exercises : 

Beginning  dictations,  first  of  one  word  at  a  time,  then  of 
two  or  three,  and  then  of  very  short  sentences. 

(4)  Very  simple  readings  by  the  teacher,  which  are  to  be 
listened  to  and  retold  by  the  pupils. 


THE  COURSES  OF  STUDY  19 

SECONDARY  SCHOOL  SYSTEM 

BEGINNING  CLASSES 
(Age  of  pupils,  five  to  seven  years.    Ten  hours  a  week.) 

Reading:  First  lessons. 

Penmanship:  Methodical,  progressive  exercises. 

French  language: 

(1)  Oral  exercises: 

Questions  about  very  familiar  matters,  designed  to  lead 
the  pupils  to  express  themselves  clearly.  The  correction 
of  faults  in  pronunciation. 

Very  simple  exercises  in  the  language:  vocabulary  and 
short  sentences. 

The  recitation  from  memory  of  poems  that  are  very  simple 
and  very  easy  to  understand,  and  that  have  been  explained 
in  advance. 

(2)  Written  exercises: 

First,  the  copying  of  short  texts  previously  explained, 
thus  preparing  the  way  for  the  study  of  orthography. 
The  writing  of  some  texts  of  the  same  kind  from  dictation. 

(3)  The  reading  aloud  of  short  pieces  before  the  class  and 
the  retelling  of  them  by  the  pupils. 

preparatory  classes 
First  Year  Preparatory,  or  Tenth  Class 

(Age  of  pupils,  seven  or  eight.    Nine  hours  a  week.) 

Reading:  Reading  regularly,  accompanied  by  brief  explana- 
tions of  the  meanings  of  the  most  difficult  words. 

Elementary  book  of  selections  x  from  various  authors. 
Penmanship:  Systematic,  progressive  exercises. 
French  language:  First  notions  about  the  different  parts  of 
speech:  noun,  article,  adjective,  and  verb. 

1  The  use  of  a  book  of  selections  is  obligatory  in  the  preparatory  and  ele- 
mentary classes. 


20     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 
Primary  Programme  (continued). 

Elementary  Course 

(From  seven  to  nine  years  of  age.    Ten  hours  a  week.) 
Reading:  Reading  regularly,  with  explanations  of  words. 

Penmanship:  Writing  in  large,  medium-sized,  and  small 
characters. 

French  language:  First  notions,  given  orally,  of  the  noun 
(number  and  gender),  adjective,  pronoun,  and  verb  (the  first 
elements  of  conjugation). 

The  formation  of  the  plural  and  the  feminine;  the  agree- 
ment of  the  adjective  with  its  noun,  and  of  the  verb  with  its 
subject. 

Idea  of  the  simple  proposition. 

(i)  Oral  exercises: 

Questions  and  explanations,  especially  in  the  course  of  the 
reading  lesson  or  in  the  correction  of  exercises.  Interroga- 
tions on  the  meaning,  the  use,  and  the  orthography  of  the 
words  used  in  the  text  read.  —  Spelling  of  difficult  words. 
Oral  reproduction  of  short  sentences  read  and  explained, 
then  of  stories  or  parts  of  stories  told  by  the  teacher. 

(2)  Memory  exercises: 

Recitation  of  poems  of  a  very  simple  kind. 

(3)  Written  exercises: 

Graded  dictations  in  spelling  and  orthography. 
Short  grammatical  exercises  of  a  great  variety  of  forms. 
Some  dictations  relative  to  alcoholism,  its  ugliness,  and 
its  dangers. 


THE  COURSES  OF  STUDY  21 

Secondary  Programme  (continued). 

First  elements  of  conjugation.  —  Eire  [to  be}.  Avoir  [to 
have].  —  Regular  verbs  (active  voice). 

Formation  of  the  feminine  and  the  plural. 

Agreement  of  the  adjective  with  the  noun,  of  the  verb 
with  its  subject. 

Analysis 1  reduced  to  its  simplest  form. 

Nature  of  words :  gender  and  number. 

Agreement  of  the  adjective  with  the  noun  that  it  limits 
or  qualifies. 

Subject  of  the  verb. 

Exercises  in  analysis,  usually  oral,  but  sometimes  written. 

(1)  Oral  exercises: 

Questions  and  explanations  growing  out  of  the  different 
kinds  of  classroom  work,  especially  the  reading  lesson  or 
the  correction  of  written  exercises. 

Questions  on  the  meaning,  use,  and  orthography  of  words 
in  the  text  read.     The  spelling  of  difficult  words. 

The  oral  reproduction  of  short  sentences  previously  read 
and  explained,  and  later,  of  stories  or  parts  of  stories  told  by 
the  teacher. 

(2)  Memory  exercises. 

Recitation  of  poetry  of  a  very  simple  kind,  always  ex- 
plained in  class  in  advance  (meanings  of  the  words  and 
sentences) . 

(3)  Written  exercises: 

Graduated  exercises  in  spelling  (on  the  blackboard  or 
in  the  exercise-book). 

Short  dictations  of  pieces  previously  read  and  explained, 
each  piece  to  be  complete  in  itself  and  interesting. 

The  pupil's  attention  is  to  be  directed  to  punctuation. 

1  [The  French  analyse  is  usually  a  combination  of  sentence  analysis  and  a 
very  simple  kind  of  parsing.] 


22    HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

Primary  Programme  (continued). 

Written  reproduction  (on  the  blackboard  or  in  the  exer- 
cise-book) of  some  sentences  that  have  previously  been 
explained. 

Composition  of  short  sentences  from  elements  given  by 
the  teacher. 

(4)  Exercises  in  analysis : 

Grammatical  analysis  (usually  oral,  sometimes  written). 
Separation  of  the  proposition  into  its  essential  terms. 

(5)  Reading  aloud  by  the  teacher,  twice  a  week,  of  selec- 
tions designed  to  interest  the  pupils. 


THE  COURSES  OF  STUDY  23 

Secondary  Programme  (continued). 

Second  Year  Preparatory,  or  Ninth  Class 

(Age  of  pupils,  eight  or  nine.     Seven  hours  a  week.) 

Reading:   The  same  programme  as  in  the  preceding  year. 
Elementary  book  of  selections  1  from  various  authors. 

Penmanship:  The  same  programme  as  in  the  preceding 
year. 

French  language:    Ideas  on  the  different  parts  of  speech: 
noun,  article,  adjective,  pronoun,  verb,  and  adverb. 

The  simplest  rules  of  agreement. 

Analysis  reduced  to  its  simplest  form. 

Nature  of  words:  gender,  number,  person,  tense,  and 
mood. 

Idea  of  the  simple  proposition;  analysis  of  its  essential 
elements,  —  subject,  verb,  and  complement  of  the  verb 
(direct  or  indirect) . 

Attribute  of  the  subject. 

Exercises  in  analysis,  usually  oral,  but  sometimes  written. 

(1)  Oral  exercises: 

The  same  programme  as  in  the  preceding  year. 

(2)  Memory  exercises: 

The  same  programme  as  in  the  preceding  year.  The 
teacher  may  assign  pieces  that  have  been  dictated  after 
having  been  read  and  explained  in  class. 

(3)  Written  exercises : 

The  same  programme  as  in  the  preceding  year. 
Short  exercises  on  the  French  language. 
Composition  of  short  sentences  from  given  elements. 

1  The  use  of  a  book  of  selections  is  obligatory  in  the  preparatory  and  ele- 
mentary classes. 


24    HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 
Primary  Programme  (continued). 

Middle  Course 

(From  nine  to  eleven  years  of  age.    Ten  hours  a  week.) 

Reading:  Reading  regularly,  with  explanations. 

Penmanship:  The  ordinary  running  hand. 

French  language:    Elementary  grammar.  —  The  parts  of 
speech.  —  Conjugations.  —  Notions  of  syntax. 

General  rules  of  the  past  participle.  Notions  of  the 
families  of  words:  derived  words  and  compound  words.  — ■ 
Principles  of  punctuation. 

(i)  Oral  exercises: 
Elocution  and  pronunciation. 
Interrogations  on  grammatical  subjects. 
Reproduction  of  stories  told  by  the  teacher;  summaries 
of  selections  read  in  class. 

(2)  Memory  exercises : 

Recitation  of  fables,  of  short  poems,  and  of  some  selec- 
tions in  prose. 

(3)  Written  exercises: 

Dictations  chosen,  as  far  as  possible,  from  classic  authors, 
and  without  pursuit  of  grammatical  difficulties. 

Exercises  in  invention  and  in  the  construction  of  sen- 
tences; homonyms,  synonyms. 

Correction  by  the  pupils  of  one  another's  dictations  and 
exercises. 

Reproduction  in  the  pupils'  own  words  of  selections  read 
in  class  or  at  home,  and  of  stories  told  by  the  teacher. 


THE  COURSES  OF  STUDY  25 

Secondary  Programme  (continued). 

Note:    The  teacher  may,  according  to  circumstances, 

adopt  suggestions  from  the  programme  for  the  next  higher 

class.1 

elementary  classes 

Eighth  Class 

(Age  of  pupils,  nine  or  ten.     Seven  hours  a  week.) 

Reading:  Reading  regularly,  accompanied  by  brief  explana- 
tions of  the  meanings  of  the  most  difficult  words. 

Elementary  book  of  selections  2  from  various  authors. 

Reading  with  explanation,  either  of  a  piece  to  be  com- 
mitted to  memory,  or  of  a  dictation  given  as  an  exercise,  or 
of  a  passage  chosen  from  the  book  of  selections. 

Penmanship:  Running  hand,  vertical,  or  English  style. 

French  language:  Elementary  grammar. 

Study  of  the  parts  of  speech. 

Complete  conjugation  of  the  regular  verbs  (active,  pas- 
sive, and  reflexive  voices). 

The  most  common  irregular  verbs. 

The  most  simple  notions  of  syntax. 

Principles  of  punctuation. 

1  Here  are  some  examples  of  exercises,  which,  of  course,  it  will  be  neces- 
sary to  vary: 

Distinguish  the  nouns,  adjectives,  verbs,  etc.,  used  in  sentences  which  the 
teacher  writes  on  the  blackboard  or  asks  the  pupil  to  read  from  the  textbook. 
Change  the  tenses  of  the  verbs  in  a  story;  change  the  person.  The  pupils 
should  be  drilled  in  rinding  and,  if  possible,  in  classifying  a  number  of 
nouns,  adjectives,  and  verbs  which  relate  to  a  given  order  of  ideas.  Require 
the  opposites  of  given  adjectives;  the  same  exercise  on  the  abstract  nouns 
which  correspond  to  the  adjectives. 

These  exercises  are  well  suited  to  the  Ninth  Class,  Eighth,  or  Seventh. 

2  The  use  of  a  book  of  selections  is  obligatory  in  the  preparatory  and  ele- 
mentary classes. 


26    HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

Primary  Programme  (continued). 

First  exercises  in  drawing  up  material  on  subjects  that 
are  very  simple  and  best  known  to  the  pupils.  Choose 
sometimes  for  a  subject  the  consequences  of  alcoholism. 

(4)  Exercises  in  analysis : 
Grammatical  analysis,  chiefly  oral. 

Logical  analysis,  limited  to  fundamental  distinctions. 

(5)  Reading  aloud  by  the  teacher,  twice  a  week,  of  selec- 
tions taken  from  classic  authors. 


THE  COURSES  OF  STUDY  27 

Secondary  Programme  (continued). 

Analysis:  More  complete  study  of  the  proposition;  func- 
tions of  words;  subject,  verb,  complements  of  place  and 
time;  attribute  of  the  subject;  determinative  complement. 

Exercises  in  analysis,  usually  oral,  but  sometimes  written. 

(1)  Oral  exercises: 

Reproduction  of  stories  told  by  the  teacher,  and  sum- 
maries of  pieces  read  in  class. 

(2)  Memory  exercises: 

Recitation  of  fables,  simple  pieces  of  poetry,  and  occa- 
sional pieces  of  prose. 

The  teacher  may  assign  pieces  that  have  been  dictated  in 
class. 

(3)  Written  exercises: 

Graduated  exercises  in  spelling  (on  the  blackboard  or  in 
the  exercise-book). 

Short  dictations  of  pieces  previously  read  and  explained, 
each  piece  to  be  complete  in  itself  and  interesting. 

Varied  exercises  on  the  French  language.1 

Short  exercises  in  French  composition,  consisting  of  de- 
scriptions of  familiar  objects  and  living  things  that  have 
been  seen  by  the  pupils,  of  reproductions  of  stories  studied 
in  class,  and  of  narratives  based  on  pictures. 

Seventh  Class 

(Age  of  pupils,  ten  to  eleven.     Seven  hours  a  week.) 

Reading:  The  same  programme  as  in  the  preceding  year. 

Elementary  book  of  selections  2  from  various  authors. 
Penmanship:    The  same  programme  as  in  the  preceding 
year. 

1  See  the  suggested  exercises  for  the  preceding  year. 

2  The  use  of  a  book  of  selections  is  obligatory  in  the  preparatory  and  ele- 
mentary classes. 


28    HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 
Primary  Programme  (continued). 

Superior  Course 

(From  eleven  to  thirteen  years  of  age.    Ten  hours  a  week,  approximately.) 

Reading:  Expressive  reading. 

Penmanship:  Running  hand,  oval,  or  "  modified." 

French  language:  Review  of  grammar  and  syntax.  Study 
of  the  proposition  and  the  different  kinds  of  propositions. 

Functions  of  words  in  the  sentence. 

Principal  rules  relative  to  the  use  of  words  and  the 
sequence  of  tenses. 

Difficulties  presented  by  the  orthography  of  certain 
nouns,  pronouns,  adjectives,  and  irregular  verbs. 

Notions  of  ordinary  etymology  and  of  derivations. 

(i)  Oral  exercises: 

Continuation  and  development  of  the  exercises  in  elocu- 
tion. 

Accounts  of  readings,  lessons,  walks,  experiences,  etc. 

Exposition  by  the  pupil  of  historical  or  literary  selections 
that  he  has  been  asked  to  read  and  analyze. 

(2)  Memory  exercises : 

Expressive  recitation  of  selections  in  prose  and  in  verse, 
of  dialogues,  and  of  scenes,  all  of  which  are  to  be  drawn  from 
the  [French]  classics. 

(3)  Written  exercises : 

Dictations  chosen  from  classic  authors  and  without  the 
pursuit  of  grammatical  problems. 

Exercises  on  the  derivation  and  the  compounding  of 
words,  on  etymology,  and  on  the  application  of  the  most 
important  rules  of  syntax. 


THE  COURSES  OF  STUDY  29 

Secondary  Programme  (continued). 

French  language:  Elementary  grammar.  —  Review. 

More  complete  study  of  irregular  verbs. 

The  simplest  rules  of  syntax. 

Ideas  on  the  use  of  tenses  and  moods. 

Principles  of  punctuation. 

Analysis :  Complete  study  of  the  elements  of  the  proposi- 
tion. 

Attribute  of  the  subject  and  of  the  complement. 

Principal  kinds  of  propositions;  the  relations  that  may 
exist  between  them. 

Exercises,  usually  oral,  but  sometimes  written. 

(1)  Oral  exercises: 

The  same  programme  as  in  the  preceding  year. 

(2)  Memory  exercises: 

The  same  programme  as  in  the  preceding  year.  The 
teacher  may  assign  pieces  that  have  been  dictated  after 
having  been  read  and  explained  in  class. 

(3)  Written  exercises: 

Graduated  exercises  in  spelling  (on  the  blackboard  or  in 
the  exercise-book). 

Short  dictations  of  pieces  previously  read  and  explained, 
each  piece  to  be  complete  in  itself  and  interesting.  (Avoid 
too  many  grammatical  difficulties.) 

Various  exercises  on  the  French  language  (same  pro- 
gramme as  in  the  preceding  year).1 

Short  exercises  in  composition  (same  programme  as  in  the 
preceding  year) . 

Very  simple  letters  based  on  everyday  life. 

1  See  the  suggested  exercises  for  the  Ninth  Class. 


30    HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

Primary  Programme  (continued). 

Compositions  on  simple  subjects;  sometimes  a  subject  on 
the  dangers  and  the  effects  of  alcoholism.  —  Accounts  of 
lessons  and  readings. 

(4)  Exercises  in  analysis: 

Questions  of  grammatical  analysis  growing  out  of  diffi- 
cult cases  encountered  in  reading. 
Oral  exercises  in  logical  analysis. 

(5)  Readings  by  the  teacher,  with  the  concourse  of  the 
pupils:  literary,  dramatic,  and  historical  subjects. 


THE  COURSES  OF  STUDY  31 

Secondary  Programme  (continued). 

FIRST  CYCLE 

Duration:  Four  Years 
DIVISION   B 

Sixth  Class 

(Age  of  pupils,  eleven  or  twelve.     Five  hours  a  week.)  l 

Grammar  of  present-day  usage. 

Simple  exercises  in  grammatical  and  logical  analysis, 
chiefly  oral. 

Exercises  on  the  vocabulary:  families  of  words,  simple 
words,  derivatives,  and  compound  words. 

Reading  and  explanation  of  authors. 

Recitation.  —  The  pieces  to  be  committed  to  memory 
are  by  preference  to  be  poetry. 

Free  reproduction,  oral  or  written,  of  classroom  readings 
and  memory  recitations. 

Short  exercises  in  composition. 

The  rules  are  to  be  taught  above  all  by  usage.  The 
teacher  will  not  miss  any  opportunity  to  make  clear  to  the 
pupils  that  they  apply  these  rules  instinctively.  He  will, 
then,  constantly  bring  his  teaching  into  relation  with 
examples  provided  by  the  written  or  spoken  language.  The 
study  of  grammar  will  have  for  its  object  the  summing  up 
of  the  rules  drawn  from  actual  experience. 

1  [In  Division  A,  which  includes  Latin  and  may  include  Greek,  only  three 
hours  are  devoted  to  the  mother  tongue  in  the  first,  second,  and  third  years 
of  this  cycle,  and  four  hours  in  the  fourth.  The  programme  in  Division  B 
gives  a  slightly  more  complete  outline  of  the  course  than  that  in  Division 
A.] 


32    HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 
Primary  Programme  (continued). 

the  higher  primary  schools 
First  Year 

(Fourteen  years  of  age.    Five  hours  a  week.) 

I.  Reading  and  Recitation 

(Three  hours  a  week.) 

Under  this  title  are  included  exercises  of  two  sorts.  Those 
of  the  first  class,  dealing  with  the  short  selections  and  in- 
sisting on  detail,  are  designed  first  of  all  to  accustom  the 
pupil  to  give  an  exact  account  of  what  he  reads  and  to  form 
his  diction.  The  others,  dealing  with  longer  selections  or 
entire  works,  aim  above  all  to  give  him  a  taste  for  reading. 

(i)  Explanation  of  texts;  reading  with  emphasis  and 
expression. 

This  exercise,  repeated  in  each  class,  will  have  for  its 
material  either  a  collection  of  short  pieces  complete  in 
themselves  or  of  other  passages  of  real  literary  value,  chosen 
from  one  of  the  books  which  the  pupils  have  already  read 
and  concerning  which  the  teacher  will  have  talked  to  them. 
The  teacher  will  lead  the  pupils  to  disengage  the  essential 
idea  of  the  passage;  to  discover  the  precise  meaning  of  the 
words  and  to  appreciate  their  appropriateness;  to  feel,  in 
the  measure  possible,  the  character  and  the  beauty  of  the 
selection.  One  will  not  neglect  to  make  explanation  of  how 
the  fragment  studied  fits  into  the  plan  of  the  complete 
work  from  which  it  has  been  taken,  nor,  on  occasion,  to 
give  some  condensed  information  about  the  life  and  work 
of  the  author. 

The  passages  to  be  committed  to  memory  will  always  be 
chosen  from  among  the  selections  thus  explained. 


THE  COURSES  OF  STUDY  33 

Secondary  Programme  (continued). 

Authors  1 

(Reading,  Explanation,  Recitation.) 

Selections  in  prose  and  in  verse  from  the  French  classics. 
(The  same  book  of  selections  may  be  used  throughout  the 
First  Cycle.) 

La  Fontaine:  Fables  (the  first  six  books). 

Fenelon:  Selections  from  the  fables  and  dialogues. 

Buffon:  Selected  descriptions. 

Stories  that  have  been  taken  from  the  poets  and  prose 
writers  of  the  Middle  Ages  and  put  into  modern  French. 

Selections  from  the  poets  of  the  nineteenth  century.2 

Stories  and  other  narratives  taken  from  the  prose  writers 
of  the  nineteenth  century.2 

Fifth  Class 

(Age  of  pupils,  twelve  or  thirteen.     Five  hours  a  week.) 

More  complete  study  of  grammatical  forms.  —  Syntax. 

Written  and  oral  exercises  on  the  French  language. 

Reading  and  explanation  of  authors. 

Recitation.  —  The  pieces  to  be  committed  to  memory 
are  by  preference  to  be  poetry. 

The  pupils  will  be  led  to  do  home  reading,  which  will  be 
checked  up  in  class. 

Easy  exercises  in  composition. 

The  rules  are  to  be  taught  above  all  by  usage.  The 
teacher  will  not  miss  any  opportunity  to  make  clear  to  the 
pupils  that  they  apply  these  rules  instinctively.  He  will, 
then,  constantly  bring  his  teaching  into  relation  with  ex- 

1  Each  year  the  teacher  will  select  from  this  list  the  works  that  are  to  be 
explained  in  class. 

2  These  two  groups  will  be  used  again  in  the  higher  classes. 


34    HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

Primary  Programme  (continued). 

(2)  Longer  readings,  partly  in  class,  partly  in  the  study- 
room  or  at  home,  pursued  independently  or  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  teacher. 

These  readings,  sometimes  purely  literary,  sometimes 
useful  complements  to  the  courses  in  morals,  history,  geog- 
raphy, or  sciences,  will  be  accompanied  to  advantage  by 
prudent  comments  designed  to  bring  out  particular  interests 
or  beauties,  to  stimulate  the  intellectual  curiosity  of  the 
pupils,  to  lead  them  to  desire  to  read  the  work  commented 
upon,  and  to  fix  their  attention  on  the  essential  points. 
These  comments  may  be  followed  sometimes  by  questions 
asked  after  the  reading  has  been  done,  sometimes  by  con- 
versation, in  which  the  teacher  takes  notice  of  the  impres- 
sion that  has  been  produced  on  the  pupils,  and  aids  them  in 
becoming  more  sharply  conscious  of  this  impression,  even 
going  so  far  as  to  make  for  them  a  simple,  brief  summary 
of  what  they  have  retained. 

The  outline  below  is  only  a  very  general  guide  which 
leaves  to  the  teacher  the  privilege  of  choosing  for  himself 
the  readings  best  suited  to  his  pupils. 

(a)  Choice  of  works  or  parts  of  works  produced  by  the 
principal  prose  writers  of  the  seventeenth,  eighteenth,  and 
nineteenth  centuries. 

(b)  Selections  from  the  great  French  poets. 

(c)  Choice  of  plays  or  parts  of  plays  from  the  French 
drama  of  the  seventeenth,  eighteenth,  and  nineteenth 
centuries. 


THE  COURSES  OF  STUDY  35 

Secondary  Programme  (continued). 

amples  provided  by  the  written  or  spoken  language.  The 
study  of  grammar  will  have  for  its  object  the  summing  up 
of  the  rules  drawn  from  actual  experience. 

Authors  x 

(Reading,  Explanation,  Recitation.) 

Selections  in  prose  and  verse  from  the  French  classics. 

Chanson  de  Roland,  put  into  modern  French. 

La  Fontaine:  Fables  (the  last  six  books). 

Boileau:  Selection  of  satires,  and  episodes  from  the 
Lutrin. 

Racine:  Esther. 

Fenelon:  Telemaque. 

Selections  from  the  poets  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

Stories  and  other  narratives  taken  from  the  prose  writers 
of  the  nineteenth  century. 

Fourth  Class 

(Age  of  pupils,  thirteen  or  fourteen.     Five  hours  a  week.) 

Reading  and  explanation  of  authors  (prose  and  verse) 
with  recitations  based  upon  the  reading. 

In  the  study  of  the  texts  the  teacher  will  give  such  ele- 
ments of  historical  grammar  as  may  seem  necessary. 
These  elements  are  not  to  constitute  a  regular  course,  and 
they  are  to  be  given  only  for  the  purpose  of  rendering  more 
intelligible  the  present  usage  of  the  language. 

The  pupils  will  be  led  to  do  home  reading,  which  is  to  be 
checked  up  in  class.2 

1  Each  year  the  teacher  will  select  from  this  list  the  works  that  are  to  be 
explained  in  class. 

'  These  home  readings  may  be  translations  of  the  principal  masterpieces 
of  ancient  and  modern  literatures. 


36    HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

Primary  Programme  (continued). 

(d)  Readings  on  the  social  life  of  the  seventeenth  and 
eighteenth  centuries,  drawn  above  all  from  memoirs  and 
correspondence. 

(e)  Readings  on  the  nineteenth  century.  Letters. 
Historical  memoirs.  Recollections  of  travel,  and  narra- 
tives of  explorations.     Selections  from  scientific  works. 

(/)  Reading  of  some  masterpieces  of  foreign  literature. 


THE  COURSES  OF  STUDY  37 

Secondary  Programme  (continued). 

French  compositions,  and  exercises  on  the  French  lan- 
guage. 

Authors  1 

(Reading,  Explanation,  Recitation.) 

Selections  in  prose  and  verse  from  the  French  classics. 
Corneille:  Le  Cid. 
Moliere:  VAvare. 
Racine:  Athalie,  Les  Plaideurs. 
Voltaire :  Eistoire  de  Charles  XII. 
Michelet:  Historical  extracts. 

Stories  and  other  narratives  taken  from  the  writers  of  the 
eighteenth  century. 

Selections  from  the  poets  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

Third  Class 

(Age  of  boys,  fourteen  or  fifteen.    Five  hours  a  week.) 

Reading  and  explanation  of  authors  with  recitations 
based  on  the  reading. 

The  pupils  are  to  be  led  to  do  home  reading,  which  is  to  be 
checked  up  in  class.2 

Readings  and  interrogations  designed  to  acquaint  the 
pupil  with  the  great  epochs  in  French  literature. 

French  compositions. 

Beginning  with  this  class,  an  outline  history  of  French 
literature  is  to  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  pupils. 

1  Each  year  the  teacher  will  select  from  this  list  the  works  that  are  to  be 
explained  in  class. 

2  These  home  readings  may  be  translations  of  the  principal  masterpieces 
of  ancient  and  modern  literatures. 


38    HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 
Primary  Progeamme  (continued). 

II.    Grammar,  Orthography,  Analysis,  and  Vocabulary 

(One  hour  a  week.) 

The  teacher  will  be  careful  not  to  devote  entire  class 
periods  to  didactic  instructions  in  grammar,  since  such 
exercises  weary  the  attention  of  the  pupils  and  leave  little 
trace  in  their  minds.  The  instruction  should  be  given  by 
means  of  exercises  chosen  carefully  by  the  teacher  to  exem- 
plify the  application  of  the  rules. 

The  point  is,  in  effect,  not  to  make  a  Course  in  grammar, 
but  to  review  the  principal  rules  which  the  pupils  have 
already  learned  in  the  [lower]  primary  schools,  illuminating 
them  —  especially  in  the  second  year  —  with  some  notions 
of  historical  grammar.  The  study  of  the  vocabulary,  — 
that  is  to  say,  of  words  classified  methodically,  of  their  modi- 
fications by  the  use  of  affixes,  of  their  grouping  into  families 
according  to  their  etymology,  —  will  occupy  an  important 
place.  Some  exercises  in  orthography  will  serve  to  supple- 
ment the  studies  in  grammar  and  vocabulary.  The  teacher 
will  not  abuse  grammatical  analysis,  which  should  be 
practiced  orally,  and  he  will  frequently  make  oral  exercises 
in  logical  analysis,  contenting  himself  with  the  simplest 
terminology.  These  exercises  are  designed  to  accustom  the 
pupils  to  distinguish  the  elements  of  thought.  In  all  the 
exercises  in  French,  the  teacher  will  devote  himself  primarily 
to  the  actual  usage  of  the  language  and  will  guard  against 
subtleties. 


THE  COURSES  OF  STUDY  39 

Secondary  Programme  (continued). 

Authors  * 

(Reading,  Explanation,  Recitation.) 

Selections  in  prose  and  verse  from  the  French  classics. 

Corneille:  Horace,  Cinna. 

Racine:  Britannicus,  Iphigenie. 

Moliere:  Le  Bourgeois  gentilhomme,  Les  Femmes  savantes. 

Bossuet:  Funeral  orations. 

Chateaubriand :  Narratives,  scenes,  and  landscapes. 

Victor  Hugo:  Selected  poems. 

Stories  and  other  narratives  taken  from  the  writers  of  the 
seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries. 

Scenes  selected  from  the  comedy  writers  of  the  seven- 
teenth and  eighteenth  centuries. 

SECOND  CYCLE 

Duration:  Three  Years 
(The  programme  [in  the  mother  tongue]  is  the  same  in  Sections  A,  B,  and  C.) 

Second  Class 

(Age  of  pupils,  fifteen  or  sixteen.    Four  hours  a  week.) 

Explanation  and  recitation  of  French  authors. 

The  pupils  are  to  do  home  reading,  which  is  to  be  checked 
up  in  class. 

In  the  study  of  the  texts,  the  teacher  will  give  such  ele- 
ments of  historical  grammar  as  may  seem  necessary.  These 
elements  are  not  to  constitute  a  regular  course,  and  they  are 
to  be  given  only  for  the  purpose  of  rendering  more  intelligi- 
ble the  present  usage  of  the  language. 

French  compositions. 

1  Each  year  the  teacher  will  choose  from  this  list  the  authors  that  are  to  be 
explained  in  class. 


40     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 
Primary  Programme  (continued). 

III.    French  Composition 

(One  hour  a  week.) 

Exercises  in  composition  of  a  very  simple  kind:  defini- 
tions, descriptions,  narratives,  letters,  reports  on  reading. 

The  teacher  will  not  regard  composition  merely  as  a 
simple  exercise  in  language,  but  indeed  as  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal means  of  helping  the  pupil's  thought  to  form  itself.  If 
reading  opens  the  field  of  ideas,  composition  gives  exercise 
in  choosing,  grouping,  and  expressing  them.  It  is  for  the 
teacher  a  means  of  knowing  the  mental  activity  of  the  pupil, 
and  of  verifying  his  mental  accuracy.  It  is  important, 
therefore,  that  the  subjects  be  adapted  to  the  powers  of  the 
pupils,  methodically  graded,  and  often  related  to  the  read- 
ings which  are  to  follow  or  precede  the  exercise  in  composi- 
tion. 


THE  COURSES  OF  STUDY  41 

Secondary  Programme  (continued). 

Readings  and  interrogations  designed  to  give  a  knowledge 
of  the  chief  French  writers  down  to  the  end  of  the  sixteenth 
century. 

Beginning  with  this  class,  a  more  advanced  grammar  is  to 
be  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  pupils. 

Authors  1 

Selections  from  the  prose  writers  and  poets  of  the  six- 
teenth, seventeenth,  eighteenth,  and  nineteenth  centuries. 

Chanson  de  Roland. 

Villehardouin,  Joinville,  Froissart,  Commines:  Selections. 

A  book  of  selections  from  Mediaeval  literature. 

Montaigne:  Principal  chapters,  and  extracts. 

Poetic  masterpieces  of  Marot,  Ronsard,  du  Bellay,  d'Au- 
bigne,  and  Regnier. 

Corneille:  Selected  plays. 

Moliere:  Selected  plays. 

Racine:  Selected  plays. 

La  Fontaine:  Fables. 

Boileau:  Satires  and  epistles. 

Bossuet:  Funeral  orations. 

La  Bruyere :  Caracteres. 

Selected  letters  of  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  cen- 
turies. 

Readings  on  the  social  life  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
selected  from  the  memoirs  and  correspondence  of  that 
period. 

J.-J.  Rousseau:  Selections. 

Poetic  masterpieces  of  Lamartine  and  Victor  Hugo. 

A  choice  from  the  leading  historians  of  the  nineteenth 
century. 

1  Each  year  the  teacher  will  choose  from  this  list  the  authors  that  are  to 
be  explained  in  class. 


42    HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 
Primary  Programme  (continued). 

Second  and  Tkerd  Years 

(Fifteen,  sixteen,  or  seventeen  years  of  age.    Five  hours  a  week.) 1 

The  programme  of  the  second  and  third  years  remains  in 
essential  respects  the  same  as  that  of  the  first  year;  it  com- 
prises reading  and  composition,  to  which  are  to  be  added 
instruction  in  grammar,  exercises  in  orthography,  and  oral 
exercises  in  logical  and  grammatical  analysis. 

Naturally  it  will  be  the  duty  of  the  teacher  to  grade  the 
various  exercises  and  to  adapt  them  to  the  attainments  of 
the  pupils. 

During  these  two  years,  and  especially  in  the  third,  the 
importance  of  composition  increases,  and  that  of  the  special 
exercises  in  orthography  diminishes.  The  composition,  on 
the  other  hand,  ought  to  serve  at  the  same  time  as  an  exer- 
cise in  orthography;  it  is  important  that  the  teacher  impress 
upon  the  pupil  the  thought  that  accuracy  is  demanded  not 
merely  in  the  special  compositions,  but  in  every  written 
exercise. 

As  for  the  work  in  composition,  its  scope  should  be  en- 
larged in  keeping  with  the  development  of  the  pupil.  The 
teacher  can  profitably  require  him  to  give  an  account  of  a 
piece  of  reading,  a  journey,  or  an  excursion;  the  descrip- 
tion of  a  factory,  or  of  occupations  belonging  to  different 
seasons.  He  should  be  required  to  exercise  his  powers  of 
observation,  imagination,  and  feeling.     One  should  teach 

1  [In  the  agricultural  and  commercial  sections,  four  hours;  in  the  indus- 
trial section,  three  hours.] 


THE  COURSES  OF  STUDY  43 

Secondary  Programme  (continued). 
First  Class 

(Age  of  pupils,  sixteen  or  seventeen.    Four  hours  a  week.) 

Explanation  and  recitation  of  French  authors. 

The  pupils  will  do  home  reading,  which  is  to  be  checked 
up  in  class. 

French  compositions. 

Readings  and  interrogations  designed  to  give  a  knowledge 
of  the  principal  French  writers  from  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury to  the  end  of  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

Authors  * 

Selections  from  the  prose  writers  and  poets  of  the  six- 
teenth, seventeenth,  eighteenth,  and  nineteenth  centuries. 

Montaigne:  Principal  chapters  and  extracts. 

Corneille:  Selected  plays. 

Moliere:  Selected  plays. 

Racine:  Selected  plays. 

La  Fontaine:  Fables. 

Boileau:  Epitres,  Satires,  Art  poetique. —  Extracts  from 
prose  works. 

Pascal:  Pensees,  Provinciates  (I,  TV,  XIII,  and  ex- 
tracts). 

Bossuet:  Funeral  orations.  Selected  sermons.  Ex- 
tracts from  miscellaneous  works. 

La  Bruyere:  Caracteres. 

Fenelon:  Lettre  a  PAcademie;  selections  from  other 
works. 

Selected  letters  from  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth 
centuries. 

1  Each  year  the  teacher  will  select  from  this  list  the  works  that  are  to  be 
explained  in  class. 


44    HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

Primary  Programme  (concluded). 

him  not  to  content  himself  with  vague  expressions,  with  cut 
and  dried  phrases,  but  to  seek  out  the  word  and  the  phrase 
which  reflect  his  thought  most  accurately,  and  to  put  into 
his  diction  as  much  as  possible  of  his  personality. 


THE  COURSES  OF  STUDY  45 

Secondary  Programme  (concluded). 

Montesquieu :  Considerations  sur  les  causes  de  la  grandeur 
des  Romains  et  de  leur  decadence.  —  Selections  from  the 
Esprit  des  lois  and  miscellaneous  works. 

Buffon:  Selections  (speeches  and  general  views). 

Voltaire :  Selections  from  his  historical  writings  and  other 
prose  works. 

Diderot:  Selections. 

J.-J.  Rousseau:  Selections.  — Lettres  a  d'Alembert  sur  les 
spectacles. 

Readings  on  the  social  life  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
selected  from  the  memoirs  and  correspondence  of  that 
period. 

Poetical  masterpieces  of  Lamartine  and  Victor  Hugo. 

A  choice  from  the  moralists  of  the  seventeenth,  eight- 
eenth, and  nineteenth  centuries. 

A  choice  from  the  principal  historians  of  the  nineteenth 
century. 

Class  in  Mathematics  or  Philosophy 

[In  this  last  year  of  the  secondary  course  there  is  no 
systematic  instruction  in  the  mother  tongue.] 


CHAPTER  III 

COMPOSITION 
I.  THE  FRENCH  ATTITUDE  TOWARD   COMPOSITION 

As  soon  as  an  American  teacher  comes  into  direct  contact 
with  the  French  educational  system,  he  marvels  at  the  large 
place  writing  holds  in  the  schools  and  their  routine  life. 
First,  it  matters  not  in  what  classroom  a  small  boy  may  be 
seen,  he  is  never  without  his  general  notebook,  in  which  he 
records  all  assignments,  all  problems,  all  experiments,  all 
quotations  to  be  learned,  all  geographical  and  historical 
notes  and  maps,  as  well  as  many  special  exercises;  and  the 
language  he  employs  in  this  work  is  carefully  marked  and 
graded  by  the  teacher.  In  the  second  place,  compositions 
are  numerous.  From  the  time  the  boy  is  regarded  as 
mature  enough  to  think  consecutively,  he  prepares  composi- 
tions at  regular  intervals.  In  some  classes  he  writes  two 
short  exercises  a  week;  in  others,  one  more  formal  piece 
each  week;  and  still  in  others,  a  longer  piece  every  two 
weeks  with  shorter  exercises  every  three  or  rive  days.  In 
the  elementary  primary  schools,  even  up  to  the  time  the 
boy  is  thirteen  or  fourteen  years  old,  the  shorter  themes 
once  or  twice  a  week  seem  to  stand  in  great  favor.  These 
vary  in  length,  usually,  from  a  hundred  and  fifty  to  four 
hundred  words  —  they  are  rather  longer  than  the  average 
American  daily  theme  —  and  the  less  frequent,  longer  com- 
positions range  ordinarily  from  six  hundred  to  fifteen 
hundred  words.  Then,  in  the  upper  grades,  there  are,  in 
addition,  many  papers  in  history,  civics,  philosophy,  and 

46 


COMPOSITION  47 

literature.  So  it  may  be  seen  that  a  boy  is  provided  with 
much  opportunity  to  write.  It  is,  in  fact,  scarcely  an 
exaggeration  to  say  that  he  writes  all  the  time.  In  any 
event,  his  practice  is  so  continuous  that  he  sooner  or  later 
comes  to  do  the  work  in  a  perfectly  normal  frame  of  mind, 
just  as  he  performs  his  other  schoolday  labors. 

The  volume  of  required  writing,  however,  is  regarded  as 
less  important  than  its  quality.  If  a  boy  thinks  and  writes 
poorly,  he  is  looked  upon  as  an  unfortunate  who  deserves 
either  pity  or  contempt.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  he  is  able  to 
think  and  write  skillfully,  he  is  held  in  great  honor  by  his 
teachers  and  his  classmates.  And  this  interest  in  ability 
to  write  is  evident  outside  the  recitation-room.  Authors 
of  books  and  articles  discuss  the  perils  of  the  pure  mother 
tongue  as  seriously  as  if  they  were  dealing  with  a  question 
of  ethics  or  of  grave  national  policy.  Parents,  I  found 
when  I  was  securing  compositions  for  the  purposes  of  this 
book,  are  usually  desirous  of  preserving  the  written  work  of 
their  children.  Moreover,  when  pupils  distinguish  them- 
selves in  examinations  —  which  in  France  are  always  largely 
a  matter  of  composition  —  they  receive  prizes  and  public 
mention  very  much  as  if  they  were  the  winners  of  athletic 
trophies.  Now  I  would  not  have  anyone  make  the  hasty 
inference  that  intellectual  contests  are  substituted  for 
athletics.  The  French  boy  loves  the  open  just  as  much  as 
the  American  boy  does,  and  outdoor  sports  are  steadily 
taking  a  larger  place  in  school  life.  But  the  ideal  of  writing 
well  has  been  held  up  before  the  schoolboy  so  long,  and  with 
such  seriousness,  that  he  attaches  more  importance  to 
ability  of  this  kind  than  the  average  American  boy  could 
at  present  be  led  to  comprehend. 

When  so  much  importance  is  everywhere  attached  to 
ability  to  write,  it  is  not  surprising  to  find  that  in  both  the 


48   HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

primary  and  secondary  school  systems  the  course  in  the 
mother  tongue  gives  large  place  to  systematic  training  in 
composition.  It  is  the  conviction  of  the  great  body  of 
teachers,  as  well  as  the  Ministry,1  that  work  in  grammar, 
rhetoric,  and  literature  is  in  most  respects  lost  unless  it 
contributes  to  the  pupil's  ability  to  give  full,  intelligent 
expression  to  his  thought.  Moreover,  theories  of  teaching, 
and  all  the  proposed  changes  in  the  course  of  study,  seem  to 
be  considered  first  in  respect  to  their  influence  on  this  ability 
of  the  pupil.  Expression  is  not  the  sole  end,  but  in  all  the 
lower  schools  it  is  the  primary  end.  And,  taking  the  other 
point  of  view,  the  chief  responsibility  for  the  pupil's  manner 
of  expression  rests  upon  the  teacher  of  the  mother  tongue. 
As  we  shall  see  later,  the  writing  that  the  boy  does  in  his- 
tory, geometry,  and  his  other  subjects  is  made  to  contribute 
its  full  share  to  his  skill;  yet  upon  the  teacher  of  the  native 
language  rests  the  largest  responsibility  and  the  greatest 
burden  of  labor.  He  accepts  his  task  as  difficult,  very 
expensive  in  time  and  energy,  but  extremely  important. 
Without  going  into  any  examination  of  exceptional  aims  or 
of  intricate  personal  devices,  let  us  see  what  he  attempts  to 
accomplish  and  how  he  pursues  his  way. 

II.  PRELIMINARIES  TO  COMPOSITION 

A.  Enlarging  and  Organizing  the  Vocabulary 

Two  groups  of  exercises  are  everywhere  regarded  as 
essential  preliminaries  to  work  in  original  composition. 
Those  in  the  first  group  are  intended  to  enlarge  and  organize 
the  pupil's  vocabulary.  Now,  I  am  aware  that  when  one 
stands  apart  and  looks  at  exercises  designed  to  improve  the 

1  Instructions,  pp.  64  ff.  The  page  reference  here,  as  in  all  following 
instances,  is  to  the  edition  of  the  Instructions  that  was  in  circulation  in 
1012-1013. 


COMPOSITION  49 

vocabulary,  they  are  likely  to  appear  very  artificial  and 
ineffective.  And,  in  truth,  they  may  be.  In  the  hands  of 
a  poorly  trained  teacher,  or  one  who  lacks  the  all-important 
teaching  instinct,  it  would  be  difficult  to  imagine  an  exercise 
that  could  be  more  dismally  futile.  But  this  possibility 
seems  to  be  disregarded  by  French  educators.  They  are 
ready  to  admit  that  the  lessons  may  become  valueless,  or 
even  harmful,  when  directed  by  a  poor  teacher — and  what 
exercise  may  not  ? — but  they  do  not  spring  to  the  conclusion 
that  such  lessons  should  for  that  reason  be  cast  aside.  They 
have  taken  the  good  teacher  as  the  norm,  and  have  given 
themselves  earnestly  to  the  task  of  obviating  the  dangers 
and  developing  the  advantages  of  a  kind  of  instruction 
which  at  its  best  appears  to  them  to  have  unquestioned 
value. 

The  theory  upon  which  this  instruction  is  based  is  not  the 
individual  opinion  of  the  occasional  teacher;  it  is  accepted 
doctrine  throughout  the  country.  In  the  volume  of  Instruc- 
tions l  issued  by  the  Minister  to  teachers  in  the  secondary 
school  system,  it  is  summarized  as  follows:  "  The  preceding 
exercises  [in  grammar]  help  the  pupil  to  understand  his 
native  language  and  to  enrich  his  vocabulary;  but  for  this 
latter  purpose,  one  ought  not  to  rely  solely  upon  them  or 
even  upon  conversation,  dictations,  reading,  or  the  explica- 
tion of  texts.  The  pupil  must  learn  words,  though  never 
apart  from  things;  he  must  be  able  to  seize  their  significa- 
tion and  the  exact  shade  of  their  meaning;  and  he  must 
become  accustomed  to  finding  the  words  quickly  when  he 
stands  in  need.  Hence  the  value  of  exercises  devoted 
especially  to  the  study  of  the  vocabulary." 

The  teaching  of  the  vocabulary  I  found,  then,  falls  read- 
ily into  three  parts:    (i)  enlarging;    (2)  sharpening;   (3) 

1  Page  75. 


50      HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

quickening.  To  be  sure,  the  instruction  is  not  divided  into 
three  separate  processes,  but  the  teacher  has  a  threefold 
aim  that  determines  his  method.  One  will  not  see  every 
aspect  of  the  method  in  one  recitation  or  in  several.  Yet 
the  principles  emphasized  in  the  Instructions  to  secondary 
teachers,  in  textbooks  for  primary  schools,  in  classes  in  the 
mother  tongue  in  both  school  systems,  and  even  in  many 
classes  in  English,  serve  to  give  outline  to  the  varying 
details  of  the  work. 

In  the  exercises  designed  to  enlarge  the  vocabulary,  it 
is  held  to  be  absolutely  essential  that  the  pupil  relate  the 
word  unmistakably  to  the  object  or  idea  which  it  represents. 
Although  it  is  much  more  difficult  to  have  a  word  in  mind 
without  relating  it  to  some  idea  than  we  generally  suppose, 
the  French  teacher  seems  to  take  no  risk.  He  guides  the 
pupil  to  feel  the  uselessness  of  words  unless  they  are  sym- 
bols of  something  physically  or  mentally  real.  Secondly, 
the  pupil  is  required  to  relate  a  new  word  to  other  words 
already  in  his  working  vocabulary,  so  that  it  will  remain 
firmly  fixed  in  his  mind.  The  new  word  may  be  linked 
to  a  synonym  that  is  known  to  the  pupil,  it  may  be  con- 
trasted with  words  already  known  to  him,  or  it  simply 
may  be  linked  to  a  group  of  ideas  that  by  circumstances  are 
brought  to  his  mind  frequently;  but  in  some  manner  he  is 
led  to  associate  it  with  words  which  he  knows  well.  Thirdly, 
the  word  is  put  into  normal  contexts  —  sometimes  before 
its  meanings  are  explained  —  so  that  the  pupil  may  develop 
a  feeling  for  its  idiomatic  use.  And  finally,  in  the  definition 
or  explanation  that  a  word  or  a  group  of  words  may  require, 
the  beginning  is  specific  rather  than  general,  concrete  rather 
than  abstract.  In  theory  at  least,  a  teacher  would  estab- 
lish the  meaning  of  sincere  in  a  boy's  mind  before  he  dis- 
cussed the  abstract  quality,  sincerity.    He  would  show  the 


COMPOSITION  51 

boy  that  many  things  are  rich  before  he  explained  richness] 
or  noble,  before  he  explained  nobility.  Moreover,  if  a  word 
has  many  definitions,  the  simplest  one,  the  one  most  easily 
understood,  the  one  that  would  most  readily  associate  itself 
with  the  boy's  stock  of  concrete  ideas  and  images,  is  ex- 
plained before  those  that  are  predominantly  abstract  or 
figurative.  It  is  taken  for  granted  that  if  a  word  is  to  be  of 
much  value  to  a  boy,  it  must  represent  an  idea  clearly  estab- 
lished in  his  mind,  and  it  must  have  its  individual  flavor. 

These  exercises  designed  to  enlarge  the  vocabulary  are 
exceedingly  interesting.  The  words  chosen  for  a  given  day 
are  close  enough  to  the  pupil's  life  to  be  stimulating,  the 
recitation  calls  for  much  activity  on  the  pupil's  part,  and 
the  period  is  never  long  enough  to  become  wearisome.  In 
these  classes  the  teacher  is  certainly  aided  by  the  Lessons 
in  Things  l  which  constitute  a  part  of  the  programmes  of 
study  in  both  the  primary  and  secondary  schools.  These 
provide  an  opportunity  to  discuss  in  the  classroom  a  great 
many  matters  of  interest  that  do  not  fall  readily  under  any 
given  subject  in  the  course  of  study.  They  might  well  be 
called  Lessons  in  General  Information.  Through  them  a 
boy  of  eight  or  nine  becomes  acquainted  with  the  peasant 
and  the  wheat  he  grows;  the  miner  and  the  ore  or  coal 
he  mines;  the  different  kinds  of  cloth  used  in  making 
clothes;  the  miller,  his  mill,  and  the  flour  he  makes;  the 
vine-grower,  his  grapes,  and  the  making  of  wine;  the 
different  kinds  of  combustibles;  the  different  kinds  of 
metals;  the  animals  in  the  neighborhood;  the  more  com- 
mon plant  life  within  reach  of  the  school;  the  different 
kinds  of  food  products  that  one  may  see  on  the  market; 

1  Lemons  de  ckoses.  They  include  much  more  than  object  lessons.  For 
the  full  scope  of  the  Leqons  de  choses,  see  Plan  d' etudes  et  programmes  de 
I'Enseignement  secondaire  (the  earlier  classes),  and  Plan  d' etudes  et  pro- 
grammes d ' enseignement  des  &coles  primaires. 


52      HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

and  dozens  of  other  objects  and  related  industries  that  are 
easily  understood.  All  these  Lessons  in  Things,  of  course, 
have  as  their  chief  object  the  sharpening  of  the  power  of 
observation  and  the  paving  of  the  way  to  natural  sciences; 
but  they  must  be  a  powerful  aid  in  the  systematic  enlarging 
of  a  pupil's  everyday  vocabulary. 

As  the  pupil  advances  in  his  course,  the  lessons,  as  might 
be  expected,  are  based  less  on  what  he  sees  and  more  on 
what  he  reads.  Ordinarily  no  long  list  of  defined  words  is 
printed  at  the  end  of  the  lesson,  and  I  did  not  see  any 
teacher  preparing  a  list  himself.  Frequently  he  calls  atten- 
tion to  certain  words  when  he  assigns  the  lesson  for  the  next 
day,  but  he  does  not  set  them  apart  in  any  detached  manner. 
Writers  of  textbooks  give  special  thought  to  the  pupil's 
vocabulary  when  they  choose  readings,  so  that  the  teacher 
may  be  able  to  make  steady  progress  without  relying 
wholly  upon  his  own  resources.  Quite  logically,  the  words 
discussed  in  the  higher  lessons  are  not  chiefly  the  names  of 
objects  and  simple  processes,  but  rather  the  names  of  ideas 
and  qualities.  Not  many  words  are  dealt  with  in  one  recita- 
tion, but  these  are  treated  fully,  in  order  that  the  exercise 
may  not  become  a  string  of  perfunctory  definitions.  The 
word  is  looked  at  from  many  different  points  of  view,  and 
its  meaning  and  uses  are  dwelt  upon  until  the  pupil  must 
perforce  feel  that  he  knows  it.  Sometimes,  too,  in  classes  of 
pupils  ten  or  twelve  years  old,  analysis  is  employed.  This 
exercise,  however,  is  always  simple,  and,  so  far  as  I  was 
able  to  observe,  it  is  always  oral.  The  pupil's  mind  has 
no  opportunity  to  wander  or  become  inactive. 

Let  us  consider  two  or  three  instances  of  classroom  pro- 
cedure. One  morning  when  I  went  to  a  primary  school  the 
teacher  began  the  hour  by  calling  upon  a  boy  to  recite 
from  memory  a  poem  that  had  been  assigned  a  few  days 


COMPOSITION  53 

before.  As  the  boy  recited,  the  teacher  stopped  him  from 
time  to  time  and  called  upon  other  pupils  to  explain  the 
meaning  of  sentences,  to  indicate  the  function  of  clauses, 
and  especially  to  explain  the  given  use  and  the  general 
meaning  of  individual  words.  The  pupils  were  obliged  to 
make  all  answers  without  referring  to  the  book;  that  is  to 
say,  they  were  required  to  know  the  poem  so  well  that  they 
could  explain  merely  from  hearing,  and  at  once,  just  what 
a  given  word  meant  in  a  given  instance.  Sometimes,  too, 
the  teacher  called  for  other  specific  meanings  of  the  word, 
and  sometimes  for  other  words  of  similar  or  opposite  mean- 
ing. I  could  not  help  feeling  that  the  lesson  was  rather 
hard  on  the  boy  who  was  required  to  stand  and  wait  while 
the  others  explained,  but  I  could  see  that  the  preparation 
which  the  lesson  demanded  had  resulted  in  an  intimate 
acquaintance  with  every  important  word  in  the  text. 

In  another  class  the  verb  associate  (associer)  appeared  in 
the  paragraph  that  constituted  the  grammar  lesson.  The 
teacher  asked  a  boy  to  use  the  word  in  as  many  different 
ways,  both  grammatically  and  according  to  meaning,  as  he 
could.  Then  the  teacher  and  the  class  talked  familiarly 
about  associates,  society,  and  the  various  meanings  of  social. 
The  lesson  was  not  a  study  of  derivations  in  the  ordinary 
meaning  of  the  term,  and  it  was  not  a  formal  study  of  syno- 
nyms. It  was  only  a  very  intelligent  attempt  on  the  part 
of  the  teacher  to  have  the  pupils  see  that  many  words  are 
related  both  in  their  origin  and  in  the  meanings  that  are 
attached  to  them  in  daily  life.  There  is  nothing  novel 
in  such  an  exercise;  yet  no  boy  could  pass  through  it  day 
after  day  without  having  his  vocabulary  rendered  more 
serviceable. 

These  exercises,  it  will  be  noted,  sprang  directly  from 
some  given  point  or  points  in  the  lessons  in  reading  and 


54     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

grammar;  and  probably  they  are  all  the  more  valuable  for 
that  reason.  But  in  the  elementary  and  middle  classes, 
textbooks  make  provision  for  work  in  vocabulary  not  only 
through  the  lessons  in  reading  and  dictation,  but  through 
groups  of  related  words  that  are  only  complementary  to 
the  other  assignments  in  the  mother  tongue.  For  example, 
here  is  a  typical  group  printed  in  one  textbook  with  a  short 
reading  lesson  on  the  horror  of  war:  Army,  officer,  soldier, 
military,  cannon,  gun,  shell,  bullet,  fortress,  declaration  of 
war,  hostilities,  invasion,  combat,  battle,  victory,  defeat,  armis- 
tice, treaty,  peace,  arbitration,  disarmament.  National  war, 
civil  war,  offensive  war,  defensive  war.  To  declare  war,  to 
invade,  to  conclude  peace,  to  resort  to  arbitration.  The  ques- 
tion may  arise  as  to  whether  a  boy  needs  these  words  until 
after  the  ideas  for  which  they  stand  have  in  some  very  real 
manner  touched  his  life.  The  French,  however,  work  on 
the  theory  that  words  and  ideas  usually  go  hand  in  hand, 
and  that  a  word  will  often  guide  a  boy  to  a  valuable  idea. 

In  the  exercises  designed  primarily  to  sharpen  feeling  for 
words,  one  is  sure  to  be  impressed  with  the  many  means  by 
which  a  word  is  brought  into  the  pupil's  life.  He  defines  it, 
he  finds  examples  of  its  accepted  uses,  he  learns  its  original 
significance  —  its  literal  meaning  when  the  word  is  pre- 
dominantly figurative  —  he  compares  it  with  other  words  of 
similar  meaning,  and  above  all,  he  contrasts  it  with  words 
that  are  essentially  its  opposite.  It  is  scarcely  too  much 
to  say  that  the  basis  of  all  word-teaching  is  contrast  rather 
than  likeness.  If  a  given  word  is  used  chiefly  as  a  noun, 
the  teacher  does  not  let  the  pupil  form  the  notion  that 
synonymous  adjectives  may  be  attached  to  it  indis- 
criminately, but  helps  him  to  learn  what  adjectives  are  or 
may  be  used  appropriately  with  it.  If  the  word  is  an 
adjective  or  verb,  he  shows  how  it  normally  takes  certain 


COMPOSITION  55 

adverbs,  and  how  others,  as  soon  as  they  are  brought  into 
close  relation  with  it,  seem  awkward  and  unidiomatic.  In 
a  similar  manner  he  guides  the  pupil  to  see  the  distinctions 
that  usage  has  established  between  nouns  which  in  general 
meaning  are  the  same.  To  take  a  very  simple  example,  if 
the  word  stem  appeared  in  a  lesson,  he  would  be  extremely 
careful  to  bring  out  the  difference  between  stem  and  stalk, 
stem  and  trunk,  and  stalk  and  trunk,  so  that  the  pupil  would 
never  fall  into  the  error  of  using  them  as  if  they  were  con- 
vertible terms.  Through  numerous  exercises  of  this  kind 
the  pupil  is  made  to  see  that  words  do  not  have  the  same 
value,  and  that  the  choosing  of  them  is  not  merely  a 
question  of  finding  approved  dictionary  definitions  when 
occasion  arises,  but  of  possessing  a  word  sense. 

Concerning  the  exercises  in  calling  words  to  mind  quickly, 
little  need  be  said.  Their  character  has  already  been  sug- 
gested. They  usually  consist  of  rapid-fire  questions  about 
the  word  itself,  its  use,  its  likes  and  opposites,  and  of  oral  or 
written  practice  in  composition  on  subjects  likely  to  call 
words  of  a  given  class  into  use.  I  saw  no  turning  of  verse 
into  prose,  but  I  did  see  many  exercises  that  required  the 
pupils  to  turn  one  kind  of  prose  into  another.  In  most  in- 
stances the  teacher  simply  read  a  story  or  an  essay  to  the 
class  and  then  called  upon  pupils  to  repeat  it  in  language  of 
their  own.  After  a  little  practice  of  this  kind,  a  boy  uncon- 
sciously adopts  many  words  that  he  has  well  understood  but 
has  not  made  a  part  of  his  working  vocabulary.  He  does 
not  surrender  his  individuality,  as  he  must  do  —  momen- 
tarily, at  least  —  in  writing  imitations,  yet  he  is  in  a  state  of 
open-mindedness  that  encourages  a  definite  impression  of 
what  he  reads  or  hears  read. 

The  scope  of  the  lessons  in  vocabulary  is  wide.  By  the 
time  a  boy  has  reached  the  age  of  twelve  he  not  only  has  had 


56     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

practice  in  calling  simple  objects  by  their  right  names,  but  he 
has  reached  out  into  the  world  around  him  and  made  ac- 
quaintance with  words  belonging  to  a  great  variety  of 
activities.  He  can  speak  intelligently  about  the  professions, 
the  occupations  of  workingmen,  the  farm,  social  life,  politi- 
cal life;  he  can  discuss  the  more  familiar  phenomena  of  the 
atmosphere,  the  physical  qualities  of  his  friends,  their  moral 
virtues  and  their  moral  faults;  he  can  use  accurately  the 
words  that  spring  from  such  relations  as  commerce,  war, 
colonization,  life  in  the  city  or  the  small  village;  and  he  can 
talk  or  write  about  such  means  of  communication  as  rail- 
ways, steamships,  street-railways,  and  the  telegraph  and 
telephone.  This  ability  he  gains  not  by  sporadic  or  blind 
plunging  about,  but  by  means  of  orderly,  systematic  study. 
The  instruction  is  not  over-rigid  or  mechanical;  one  might 
visit  classrooms  for  months  without  feeling  that  the  in- 
struction was  organized  in  any  large  way.  Yet  it  is  the 
careful  organization  that  makes  the  wide  scope  of  the  work 
possible.  The  simplicity  is  not  that  of  isolated,  individual 
effort,  but  of  well-designed  plan. 

After  one  has  made  due  allowance  for  all  human  imper- 
fections in  teachers,  and  has  put  aside  all  over-idealistic 
notions  of  the  possibilities  of  any  method,  one  must  admit 
that  this  instruction  in  the  vocabulary  is  well  worth  all  the 
effort  that  is  put  into  it.  The  boy  has,  in  the  first  place,  a 
good  fund  of  words  which  he  can  employ  with  accuracy  and 
confidence.  He  can  employ  them  with  accuracy  because 
he  has  had  practice  in  making  them  carry  the  meaning  they 
ought  to  carry,  and  he  can  employ  them  with  confidence 
because  he  has  not  relied  upon  chance  in  learning  their  uses, 
but  instead  has  grown  into  a  sound  acquaintance  with  them 
through  numerous  discussions  and  much  practice  under  the 
direction  of  the  teacher.   This  immediate  value  of  the  study, 


COMPOSITION  57 

however,  is  not  the  greatest.  The  greatest  value  lies  in  the 
slow  but  certain  growth  of  a  word  conscience.  The  feeling 
for  words  which  the  pupil  develops  becomes  a  permanent 
part  of  his  life.  The  boy  who  has  had  training  of  this  kind 
may  still  use  slangy  or  worn  speech,  but  he  is  at  least  aware 
of  what  he  does.  And  he  will  often  avoid  the  colorless 
word  not  because  he  simply  knows  that  it  should  be  avoided, 
but  because  his  quickened  nature  instinctively  revolts 
against  it. 

B.  Dictation 

The  second  of  the  preHminary  exercises  universally  em- 
ployed by  the  French  teacher  of  the  mother  tongue  is 
dictation.  In  America,  dictation  seems  to  have  been  put 
aside  to  make  way  for  something  new.  French  teachers, 
however,  do  not  hesitate  to  use  an  old-fashioned  method 
or  device  if  they  believe  it  is  good.  Instead,  therefore, 
of  dropping  dictation  from  the  programme  of  studies,  they 
have  emphasized  it  and  developed  it  until  it  is  now  a 
very  important  and  thoroughly  established  part  of  their 
educational  procedure.  It  is  based  on  the  conviction  that  a 
child  can  acquire  skill  before  he  develops  the  power  of  pro- 
found or  sustained  thought.  He  has  much  practice,  then, 
in  writing  the  thoughts  of  others  while  he  is  yet  too  young 
to  write  his  own.  Teachers  admit  that  dictation  has  its 
dangers,  but  since  they  regard  these  as  incomparable  to  its 
possible  value,  they  employ  it,  just  as  they  employ  exercises 
in  vocabulary,  with  the  confidence  that  though  they  are 
risking  small  dangers,  they  are  following  the  direction  of  a 
larger  common  sense. 

French  teachers  usually  dwell  upon  four  or  five  specific 
values  of  dictation.  It  gives  the  pupil  much  practice  in 
the  handling  of  the  sentence;  it  directs  his  attention  to 


58     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

grammatical  constructions;  it  helps  him  to  learn  to  spell,  to 
punctuate,  and  to  capitalize;  it  enlarges  his  vocabulary  and 
gives  him  practice  in  the  use  of  words  already  known  to  him; 
and  it  fills  his  mind  with  good  standards  of  speech.  To 
these  should  be  added  one  value  that  the  thoughtful  teacher 
must  regard  as  greatest  of  all;  namely,  that  dictation 
prevents  the  pupil  from  separating  spoken  language  and 
writing.  One  of  the  objections  almost  invariably  made  by 
the  young  pupil  to  practice  in  original  composition  is  that 
writing  seems  an  artificial  process  quite  unlike  anything  he 
has  ever  before  attempted.  In  making  this  objection,  he  is, 
of  course,  merely  giving  expression  to  the  fact  that  language 
is  naturally  a  matter  of  speech  rather  than  writing,  and  the 
additional  fact  that  he  has  not  felt  a  close  relation  between 
what  he  says  by  word  of  mouth  and  what  he  writes  on  paper. 
If  then,  before  he  begins  composition,  and  later  while  he  is 
practicing  it  in  an  elementary  manner,  he  has  drill  in  writing 
down  what  he  hears,  the  relation  between  speech  and  writing 
is  much  less  likely  to  be  weakened.  While  he  is  listening 
carefully  to  his  teacher's  reading,  catching  the  words  in 
their  natural  thought  groups,  and  putting  them  down  one 
by  one  in  his  exercise-book,  he  is  not  only  learning  much 
about  the  mechanics  of  composition,  but  he  is  saving  himself 
from  the  error  of  looking  upon  theme-writing  as  something 
far  removed  from  normal  existence. 

In  giving  dictations,  the  teacher  exercises  great  care. 
After  the  very  earliest  classes,  where  the  work  must  of  neces- 
sity be  simple,  he  does  not  give  isolated  or  detached  sen- 
tences, but  instead,  a  complete,  interesting  paragraph. 
Moreover,  he  always  explains  the  paragraph  fully  before  he 
asks  the  pupil  to  write  it  down.  This  precaution  is  regarded 
as  so  important  that  a  teacher  is  prohibited  from  requiring 
a  pupil  to  write  down  anything  that  is  meaningless  or  vague. 


COMPOSITION  59 

Again,  he  reads  a  paragraph  that  contains  material  suited 
to  keep  the  pupil's  attention.  That  is  to  say,  the  ideas  and 
the  words  in  which  they  are  expressed  must  be  just  within 
the  pupil's  reach.  And  finally,  the  teacher  guards  against 
letting  the  exercise  become  monotonous.  It  is  never  long  — 
usually  it  is  a  short,  crisp  paragraph  —  the  corrections  are 
made  immediately  while  interest  is  warm,  and  the  pupil 
is  not  asked  to  rewrite  the  dictation  unless  he  has  been 
exceedingly  careless.  The  ten  or  fifteen  minutes  are  so  full 
of  pleasant  activity  that  the  time  passes  quickly,  and  the 
boy  seems  never  to  dream  that  he  is  doing  something  that 
might,  under  a  thoughtless  teacher,  become  a  dreary,  useless 
punishment. 

The  following  passage  from  Daudet  is  a  specimen  of  the 
material  read  for  dictation  to  boys  of  nine  years.  Perhaps 
it  ought  to  be  explained  in  passing  that  the  short  stories  of 
Daudet  occupy  a  large  place  in  many  of  the  earlier  exercises 
in  the  mother  tongue.  In  this  instance,  the  teacher  read 
the  passage  and  discussed  some  of  the  words,  then  dictated 
it  sentence  by  sentence.  When  he  had  finished,  several 
boys  read  what  they  had  written,  one  boy  spelled  all  the 
more  difficult  words,  and  then  all  of  them  underscored 
certain  words  that  were  to  form  the  basis  of  a  lesson  in 
grammar  the  following  day.     The  passage : 

Ah,  Monsieur  Seguin's  little  goat,  how  pretty  she  was!  How 
pretty  she  was  with  her  soft  eyes,  her  beard  like  a  corporal's,  her  shiny 
black  hoofs,  her  horns  striped  like  a  zebra,  and  her  long,  white  hair 
which  formed  a  kind  of  greatcoat.  .  .  .  Behind  his  house  Monsieur 
Seguin  had  an  enclosure  surrounded  by  hawthorns.  There  he  put  his 
new  boarder.  He  fastened  her  to  a  stake  in  the  place  where  the  grass 
was  best,  taking  care  to  give  her  plenty  of  rope;  and  from  time  to 
time  he  went  to  see  if  she  was  getting  along  all  right.  The  little  goat 
was  very  happy  and  ate  the  grass  with  such  an  appetite  that  Monsieur 
Seguin  was  delighted.1 

1  Translated  from  Le  Chevre  de  Monsieur  Seguin. 


60     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

The  French  boy  of  ten  or  twelve  has  developed  sharp 
hearing  and  quick  writing  to  such  a  degree  that  he  can  take 
a  dictation  of  this  kind  with  surprising  accuracy.  I  often 
made  tests  of  his  ability  to  write  English.  One  day,  for 
example,  when  I  went  to  a  classroom  to  hear  a  recitation, 
I  asked  the  teacher  if  I  might  give  a  dictation.  The  boys 
in  the  class  were  eleven  and  twelve  years  of  age,  and  they 
were  approaching  the  end  of  their  second  year  in  English 
study.  The  anecdote  which  I  selected  was,  I  found  by 
making  inquiry,  entirely  new  to  them.     It  follows: 

When  General  Washington  was  President  of  the  United  States,  he 
had  a  secretary  who  was  directed  to  come  to  him  at  a  certain  hour  each 
day.  More  than  once  he  was  late,  and  excused  himself  by  saying 
that  his  watch  was  wrong.  "  Then,"  said  the  President,  "  if  your 
watch  is  to  blame,  either  you  must  get  another  watch  or  I  must  get 
another  secretary." 

First  I  read  the  paragraph  through,  in  order  to  be  sure 
that  every  pupil  understood  all  the  words;  next  I  read  it 
sentence  by  sentence  and  the  pupils  took  it  down;  and  then 
I  read  it  through  rapidly,  so  that  they  might  supply  obvious 
omissions.  There  were  twenty-eight  boys  in  the  class  and 
eleven  of  them  wrote  the  passage  without  error.  More- 
over, five  others  made  only  one  error  each,  and  no  boy  in 
the  class  made  more  than  ten. 

This  ability  to  take  dictation  with  such  accuracy 
prompted  me  to  make  similar  tests  in  our  native  tongue 
when  I  returned  to  America;  and  since  I  had  tested  the 
French  pupils  not  only  in  French  but  in  English,  it  was 
less  difficult  to  make  some  comparisons.  I  began  by  dictat- 
ing the  same  anecdote  to  American  boys  and  girls  who  were 
just  as  old  as  the  French  pupils.  Then  I  extended  the  test 
to  higher  grades.  At  the  time  I  write  I  have  dictated  the 
paragraph  in  eighteen  different  schools,  to  more  than  five 
hundred  pupils.     The  cities  in  which  I  have  given  the  test 


COMPOSITION  6 1 

range  in  size  from  a  few  thousand  to  a  quarter-million;  and 
in  each  instance  I  have  given  it  only  in  schools  suggested  by 
the  superintendent.  In  the  total  number  of  papers  that  I 
have  secured  in  this  manner  there  are,  making  full  allowance 
for  all  possible  variations  in  capitalization  and  punctuation, 
just  eleven  that  are  perfect.1  Comparatively  few  approach 
perfection,  and  a  very  large  number  are  full  of  the  most 
egregious  blunders.  Words  are  left  out,  words  are  mis- 
spelled, punctuation  is  omitted,  capitals  are  omitted,  and 
capitals  are  put  in  where  they  do  not  belong.  Many  papers 
have  as  many  as  twenty  errors  each,  and  some  have  forty. 
This  comparison  and  others  of  a  similar  kind  that  I  have 
made  are  sufficient  to  convince  one  beyond  doubt  that  the 
French  boy  of  eleven  or  twelve  has  gained  materially  over 
the  American  boy  of  the  same  age  in  writing  language 
accurately. 

This  advantage  gained  by  the  young  French  boy  includes 
ability  to  spell.  And  when  it  is  remembered  that  he  learns 
to  spell  chiefly  through  dictation,  his  progress  ought  to  be 
significant  to  American  teachers.  A  small  part  of  his  more 
thorough  mastery  of  spelling  may,  perhaps,  be  attributed 
to  the  simpler  orthography  of  the  French  language;  but  it 
must  be  a  very  small  part.  In  the  first  place,  French  is  not 
an  extremely  easy  language  to  spell.  Anyone  who  has 
attempted  to  write  it,  even  in  the  most  elementary  way, 
knows  that  there  are  pitfalls  for  the  unwary.  And  French 
teachers  appreciate  the  difficulties  that  even  the  most  con- 
scientious pupil  must  encounter.  But  there  is  another  rea- 
son why  the  pupil's  ability  to  spell  cannot  be  attributed 

1  Five  hundred  college  freshmen  wrote  forty-seven  perfect  papers.  The 
French  class  which  I  have  used  in  this  comparison  was  unquestionably  a 
very  good  one;  but  some  of  the  American  school  classes  were  ranked  as 
very  good  also.  The  college  freshmen  were  in  two  state  universities  and 
two  endowed  colleges. 


62      HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

wholly  to  simpler  orthography:  he  is  able  to  spell  in  Eng- 
lish, as  well  as  in  his  own  tongue.  As  I  write,  I  have  before 
me  two  hundred  pages  of  exercises  in  English  written  by 
French  boys  ranging  in  age  from  nine  to  twelve  years. 
With  the  exception  of  fifty  pages,  these  are  not  selected 
papers,  but  are  the  work  of  the  average  of  the  classes  from 
which  I  secured  them;  and  in  many  instances  they  are 
classroom  exercises  written  without  preparation.  Yet  in 
all  these  there  are  only  seven  misspelled  words.1 

The  greater  part  of  this  ability  to  spell  we  can  attribute 
only  to  a  well-developed  spelling  conscience;  and  dictation 
constitutes  the  chief  means  of  its  early  development.  In 
fact,  I  saw  no  spelling  whatever  of  isolated  lists  of  words  such 
as  we  have  in  our  spelling  books.  Instead,  as  I  have  already 
suggested,  the  pupils  write  the  words  from  dictation  in  a 
normal  context,  and  after  they  have  written,  they  go  over 
the  entire  paragraph  and  spell  the  words  that  afford  most 
difficulty.  Usually  one  boy  spells  while  the  others  watch 
for  errors  in  the  speller's  work  and  their  own.  If  a  boy  is  in 
doubt  about  a  word  that  is  not  spelled  in  due  course,  he 
calls  for  it;  and  if  the  teacher  questions  anyone's  ability  to 
spell  a  word  that  has  not  been  chosen  by  the  boy  who  leads 
in  the  recitation,  he  immediately  calls  for  that  word.  It 
may  be  seen,  then,  that  spelling  cannot  easily  be  regarded 
as  a  useless  exercise  by  the  boy  unless  he  looks  upon  the  rest 
of  his  training  in  the  mother  tongue  as  equally  useless.  His 
spelling  is  not  separated  from  his  reading  and  writing. 

It  is  only  because  spelling  is  an  extremely  irritating  prob- 
lem in  America  that  I  emphasize  this  particular  value  of 

1  These  words  are  English  (Inglish),  stretch  (strechr),  umbrella  (umbrela), 
weather  (waether),  raining  (reaning),  high  (hight),  and  which  (wich).  In  one 
city  the  pupils  in  the  lycee  spelled  English  words  poorly,  but  the  entire  char- 
acter of  the  work  in  English  was  so  far  below  that  of  the  other  cities  I  visited, 
that  the  spelling  seemed  to  be  only  a  part  of  the  general  neglect. 


COMPOSITION  63 

dictation.  As  was  pointed  out  in  an  earlier  paragraph, 
this  is  but  one  value  among  several,  and  perhaps  not  the 
most  important.  Punctuation,  word  order,  sentence  rela- 
tions, the  meaning  of  words,  the  movement  and  balance  of 
good  writing,  and  the  close  relation  of  spoken  and  written 
language  are  also  grounded  deeply  in  the  pupil's  mind. 
When,  therefore,  he  is  practicing  dictation,  he  is  becoming 
so  intimately  acquainted  with  a  number  of  essential  matters 
that  his  knowledge  of  them  passes  over  from  mere  knowledge 
to  feeling,  and  thus  becomes  available  as  "  second  nature  " 
when  he  is  ready  to  write  compositions  of  his  own. 

III.  MATERIAL  FOR  THEMES 

A.  The  Emphasis  Placed  on  Good  Material 

When  we  turn  from  the  preliminary  preparation  for 
writing  to  the  actual  work  of  constructing  original  composi- 
tions, we  rind  at  the  outset  that  the  French  teacher  attaches 
unusual  importance  to  the  kind  of  material  with  which  a 
pupil  practices.  It  is  possible  to  conceive  of  a  time  in  the 
history  of  French  education  when  the  substance  of  a  pupil's 
writing  might  have  been  sacrificed  to  the  niceties  of  elegant 
expression;  but  certainly  no  such  evil  exists  to-day.  In 
truth,  here  in  our  own  country,  where  we  boast  —  some- 
times to  our  misfortune  —  that  "  substance  is  the  thing," 
we  give  much  less  attention  to  the  finding  and  developing  of 
theme  material  than  does  the  average  teacher  in  France.  It 
is  true  that  the  French  are  not  yet  satisfied  with  what  they 
have  accomplished  in  giving  material  its  deserved  place 
in  the  teaching  of  composition.  In  spite  of  the  progress  they 
have  made,  they  believe  that  much  yet  remains  to  be  done. 
But  this  very  state  of  mind  indicates  how  much  importance 
is  attached  to  subject-matter. 


64  HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

Material  receives  much  of  the  teacher's  thought  not  only 
because  in  a  given  instance  it  has  a  large  part  in  determin- 
ing the  boy's  success  in  his  writing,  but  also  because  the 
subject-matter  about  which  a  boy  writes  from  month  to 
month  and  from  year  to  year  may  be  made  an  extremely 
influential  part  of  his  education.  Here  again  we  may  ob- 
serve the  results  of  the  Frenchman's  ability  to  see  things 
in  the  large.  Regardless  of  differences  of  opinion  about 
questions  of  detail,  teachers  agree  that  theme  material 
should  have  a  threefold  influence  upon  a  pupil's  life:  it 
should  cultivate  (i)  observation,  (2)  imagination,  and  (3) 
reflection  or  judgment. 

In  daily  practice,  the  French  watchword  is  sincerity. 
Teachers  and  heads  of  schools  feel  that  in  the  older  days 
when  the  Classical  languages  dominated  completely  the 
teaching  of  the  mother  tongue,  much  of  the  material  as- 
signed was  to  some  extent  beyond  the  pupil's  mental  reach. 
Consequently  there  is  to-day  a  loud  cry  and  a  strict  guard- 
ing against  the  encouragement  of  any  sort  of  intellectual 
hypocrisy.  One  may  yet  meet  occasionally  with  a  teacher 
who  clings  to  the  older  method  of  giving  his  boys  culture  or 
finish,  but  he  is  so  much  alone  and  so  thoroughly  on  the 
defensive  that  he  seems  to  belong  to  another  educational 
age.  The  teacher  that  one  meets  every  day  believes  in 
making  theme  material  vital  by  relating  it  to  the  pupil's  life. 
Neither  in  the  grade  of  the  material  nor  in  the  type  within 
the  grade  does  he  permit  unnecessary  temptation  to  false- 
hood or  affectation.  Thus  it  comes  about  that  the  very 
young  boy  does  not  attempt  to  write  organized  compositions 
at  all;  that  his  first  efforts  in  original  work  require  only 
direct  observation  or  the  memory  of  observation  previously 
made;  that  the  next  in  order  require  observation  and  im- 
agination;  and  that  only  as  he  approaches  the  end  of  his 


COMPOSITION  65 

course  —  that  is  to  say,  when  he  would  be  a  senior  in  an 
American  high  school  or  a  freshman  in  college  —  is  the 
material  he  must  write  upon  designed  chiefly  to  encourage 
analysis  or  reflection.  Of  course,  these  lines  of  demarcation 
are  not  rigidly  drawn.  The  young  pupil  is  asked  to  reflect, 
and  the  oldest  pupil  is  asked  to  observe  and  imagine;  but 
the  emphasis  is  first  upon  observation,  then  upon  imagina- 
tion, and  finally  upon  reflection. 

B.  The  Kind  of  Material  Assigned 

The  following  theme  subjects,  chosen  from  a  large  number 
that  were  used  in  the  secondary  and  primary  school  sys- 
tems, are,  I  believe,  representative.  In  two  or  three  in- 
stances I  have  given  the  class  of  subject,  rather  than  the 
specific  assignment  for  a  given  day,  so  that  the  field  from 
which  the  short,  frequent  exercises  are  drawn  may  be  more 
readily  seen.  In  all  other  instances  I  have  used  the  subject 
just  as  it  was  dictated  to  the  pupil. 

Note  that  the  French  teacher  does  not  assign  a  title 
merely.  Sometimes  he  suggests  a  title,  sometimes  he  leaves 
the  pupil  free  to  draw  a  title  from  the  subject  assigned ;  but 
in  every  instance  he  gives  a  full  statement  of  the  subject, 
so  that  a  boy  cannot  fail  to  understand  the  nature  of  the 
work  he  is  to  attempt.  Note,  too,  that  the  subjects  calling 
for  analytical  treatment  are  not  based  upon  reading  alone, 
and  that  very  frequently  some  idea  in  a  given  piece  of  litera- 
ture, rather  than  the  piece  itself,  is  to  be  treated.  The 
earlier  themes  based  on  reading  are  usually  either  reproduc- 
tions expressed  in  the  pupil's  own  words,  or  very  simple 
expressions  of  opinion  or  preference. 

(1)  Subjects  calling  chiefly  for  accurate  observation.  Age 
of  pupils,  from  ten  to  thirteen  years. 


66     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

(a)  Oral  and  written  reproduction  of  passages  read  before  the  class 
and  explained  by  the  teacher.  These  lessons  were  drawn  from  history, 
geography,  literature,  and  elementary  science. 

[In  the  primary  school  from  which  I  secured  this  assignment,  the 
teacher  called  for  a  written  lesson  of  this  kind  at  least  once  a  month 
throughout  the  year.     Age  of  the  pupils,  eleven.] 

(b)  The  description  of  a  simple  object,  such  as  a  hammer,  football, 
book-satchel,  apple,  or  hat.  Remember  that  description  may  appeal 
to  all  the  senses.  One  should  speak,  then,  of  the  shape  of  the  object, 
its  size,  color,  and,  if  important,  its  odor  and  touch. 

[The  object  for  a  given  lesson  was,  of  course,  specifically  indicated 
by  the  teacher.] 

(c)  Tell  how  a  robin  (or  some  other  bird)  builds  its  nest. 

(d)  Have  you  ever  observed  how  your  classmates  enter  the  recita- 
tion-room ?  Write  an  account  of  the  way  they  enter  one  of  your 
classes  to-day,  to-morrow,  or  the  day  following. 

(<?)  Write  a  letter  to  a  big  brother  who  is  serving  his  time  in  the 
army.     What  are  some  of  the  things  you  would  be  sure  to  tell  him  ? 

(/)  In  a  letter  to  a  boy  who  has  recently  visited  you,  announce  the 
sudden,  accidental  death  of  a  common  friend. 

(g)  Explain  some  game  that  you  play.  Be  sure  to  speak  of  the 
kind  of  game,  whether  of  skill  or  of  chance;  the  material  employed, 
and  the  placing  of  it;  the  number  of  players;  and  the  important  rules 
one  must  follow. 

(h)  Describe  a  classmate,  a  teacher,  or  some  one  seen  frequently 
along  the  street. 

[This  description  was  to  be  purely  physical;  no  attempt  was  to  be 
made  to  characterize  the  person.] 

(i)  Write  a  characterization  of  some  one  whom  you  know  inti- 
mately. 

[This  assignment  was  accompanied  by  a  full  discussion  of  the 
qualities  the  pupil  ought  to  be  able  to  see,  and  by  an  explanation  of 
the  relation  of  characterization  and  purely  physical  description.] 

(J)  Have  you  ever  observed  the  calm  appearance  of  things  just  at 
the  end  of  the  day  ?  Write  about  the  end  of  the  day  as  you  see  it 
where  you  live. 

As  one  might  infer  from  what  was  said  in  Chapter  II 
about  the  clearly  different  aims  of  the  two  school  systems, 
the  emphasis  placed  on  a  given  kind  of  material  is  deter- 


COMPOSITION  67 

mined  largely  by  the  system  in  which  the  assignments  are 
made.  For  example,  in  an  elementary  secondary  school  I 
found  that  the  four  assignments  for  the  month  of  March 
were  as  follows :  (1)  one  reproduction  of  a  subject  discussed 
in  class;  (2)  two  simple  narratives;  and  (3)  a  letter  on  a 
familiar  subject.  In  a  corresponding  primary  school  the 
eight  assignments  were:  (1)  one  reproduction  of  a  subject 
discussed  in  class;  (2)  one  simple  narrative;  (3)  three 
descriptions  of  plants;  and  (4)  three  descriptions  of 
animals.  Nevertheless,  the  chief  purpose  in  the  lower 
classes  of  the  two  systems  is  the  same;  namely,  to  encourage 
observation  and  to  develop  the  pupil's  power  to  write  down 
what  he  sees. 

(2)  Subjects  which  in  the  main  require  imaginative  treat- 
ment.    Age  of  the  pupils,  thirteen  to  fifteen  years. 

(a)  Write  a  letter  to  the  Prefect  asking  that  an  old  friend  who  lost 
an  arm  in  the  Franco-Prussian  war  be  put  in  charge  of  a  tobacco  shop 
that  has  become  vacant. 

[The  French  government  holds  a  monopoly  on  tobacco,  and  directs 
its  sale.] 

(b)  Citronet  is  the  worst  little  "  mucker  "  in  the  village.  (Sketch 
his  physical  and  moral  qualities  and  his  personal  history.)  One  day 
he  crouched  down  on  the  rear  part  of  a  big  automobile  that  stopped 
for  an  instant  in  the  public  square.  He  meant  to  jump  off  at  the  end 
of  the  village,  but  the  speed  was  too  great ;  and  the  driver  did  not  stop 
until  he  had  gone  fifty  miles.  Describe  the  astonishment  of  the  party 
when  they  discovered  Citronet  —  and  in  what  a  state!  Generous, 
they  took  him  to  the  nearest  railroad  station  and  bought  him  a  third- 
class  ticket  for  the  return  trip.     Impressions  of  the  return. 

(c)  The  Loire  is  out  of  bank.  On  a  little  island  that  the  high 
waters  have  formed,  a  hare  finds  himself  imprisoned.  A  man  sees 
him  there  and  smiles  to  himself  at  the  easy  capture  he  can  make.  In  a 
small  boat  he  rows  to  the  island.  He  climbs  out,  ties  the  boat  hastily, 
and  endeavors  to  catch  his  game.  The  hare,  hard  pressed  in  the 
chase,  leaps  into  the  boat;  his  weight  is  sufficient  to  pull  the  cord 
loose.  Thus  he  rides  off  downstream  and  leaves  the  man  a  captive  on 
the  island. 


68     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

(d)  I  was  present  one  day  at  the  departure  of  the  swallows.  It  was 
in  the  morning.  The  telegraph  wires  and  some  of  the  roofs  near  by 
were  alive  with  birds  that  chattered  and  circled  about.  All  at  once, 
as  if  at  a  signal  given,  they  departed  in  a  compact  flock  toward  the 
south.  My  thought  followed  them  in  their  flight,  and  I  amused 
myself  by  picturing  the  countries  and  the  bodies  of  water  that  they 
would  traverse  in  their  rapid  course. 

(e)  What  are  some  of  the  characteristic  aspects  of  Paris  life  (the 
crowds,  the  boulevards,  the  shops,  etc.)  on  New  Year's  Day  ? 

[This  subject  was  assigned,  of  course,  in  a  Paris  school.] 

(/)  Winter  is  almost  over.  Do  you  notice  any  signs  of  spring  ? 
What,  after  all,  are  the  sure  indications  that  spring  is  approaching  ? 

(g)  It  has  rained  a  long  time;  the  river  is  heavy  and  yellow.  Little 
by  little  it  rises  until  the  water  reaches  the  houses  closest  to  its  banks; 
soon  it  invades  the  neighboring  streets;  the  alarm  is  given.  .  .  .  The 
people  proceed  with  the  hasty  movings;  many  of  the  scenes  bring 
tears  to  the  eyes  of  the  rescuers.  Some  of  the  courageous  men  save 
victims  from  the  water;  others  assist  them  in  getting  from  the  in- 
undated houses.  As  they  struggle  against  the  great  scourge,  one  feels 
the  souls  of  men  growing  in  charity  and  fraternity. 

[Given  at  Paris,  where  the  memories  of  the  destructive  flood  of 
iqio-ii  were  still  vivid.] 

(h)  By  drawing  upon  your  memory  and  imagination,  recount  a 
journey  that  you  supposedly  take  in  an  aeroplane.  If  you  like,  ex- 
plain what  part  this  journey  has  led  you  to  believe  air  travel  will  play 
in  the  life  of  to-morrow. 

(i)  You  pass  your  vacation  in  a  very  small  village  in  Normandy 
where  airships  are  not  often  seen.  One  day  some  one  hears  a  hum- 
ming noise  above  the  housetops.  It  is  a  dirigible.  Give  an  account 
of  the  impressions  that  this  grand  event  produces,  and  the  comments 
and  reflections  that  it  excites. 

(j)  You  see  a  miserable-looking  boy  take  a  small  loaf  of  bread  from 
the  show-window  of  a  bakery  and  eat  it  in  a  dark  corner  near  by. 
Describe  the  scene.  Do  you  intervene  and,  if  you  do,  in  what  manner  ? 
Why? 

(3)  Subjects  that,  in  the  main,  require  analysis,  thinking, 
reflection.     Age  of  the  pupils,  fifteen  to  eighteen  years. 

(a)  Reflect  upon  this  thought  expressed  by  a  contemporary  author, 
making  use  of  your  own  observation  and  experience. 

"  Everything  I  saw  passing  in  the  street,  —  the  people,  the  beasts, 
and  the  inanimate  objects,  —  contributed  more  than  one  would  be- 


COMPOSITION  69 

lieve  to  my  appreciation  of  the  simple  and  the  strong  in  life.  Nothing 
is  better  than  the  street  for  acquainting  a  child  with  the  social  ma- 
chine. ...  He  must  have  breathed  the  air  of  the  street  in  order  to 
feel  that  the  law  of  labor  is  divine  and  that  everyone  must  perform 
his  task  in  the  world." 

(Anatole  France,  Le  Livre  de  mon  ami,  page  157.) 

(b)  What  are  the  three  or  four  qualities  that  you  prefer  above  all 
others  in  your  friends  ? 

(c)  Do  you  agree  with  Sainte-Beuve  in  his  expression  of  this  wish  ? 
"  To  be  born,  to  live,  and  to  die  in  the  same  house!  " 

(d)  Jean- Jacques  Rousseau  declared  that  books  were  the  instru- 
ments of  childhood's  greatest  misery.  He  would  not  put  them  in  the 
hands  of  children  before  the  age  of  twelve,  "  reading  being  the  greatest 
scourge  of  early  youth."  In  a  letter  to  some  friend,  say  what  you 
think  of  this  opinion.  If  you  do  not  agree  with  it,  point  out  some  of 
the  pleasurable  advantages  that  children  gain  from  being  able  to  read. 

(e)  Victor  Hugo,  writing  to  one  of  his  friends  about  1835,  said  that 
he  had  many  sources  of  inspiration:  the  daily  happenings,  the  spec- 
tacle of  nature,  the  joys  and  apprehensions  that  stir  humanity  now  as 
always.  But  he  found  his  greatest  pleasure,  he  explained,  in  calling 
up  the  memories  of  his  happy  childhood  and  in  living  over  all  the 
friendships  and  affections  of  his  infancy  and  the  years  of  his  educa- 
tion. And  to  this  pleasure  he  added  that  of  seeing  his  own  children 
about  him  and  smiling  at  their  innocent  gaiety.  He  dreamed,  he 
said,  of  becoming  the  great  poet  of  family  life  and  fireside  joys. 

In  the  poems  of  Hugo  that  you  have  read,  recall  the  influences  of 
this  love  for  home  life. 

(/)  Have  you  formed  any  notion  of  the  role  of  chance  and  the  role 
of  personal  merit  in  the  affairs  of  life  ?    What  is  it  ? 

(g)  What  do  you  think  of  the  oft-repeated  words:  "  The  absurd 
man  is  the  one  who  never  changes  his  mind  "  ? 

(h)  The  Abbe  de  Saint-Pierre  has  sent  his  Projet  de  paix  perpet- 
uelle  to  Fontenelle.     Compose  Fontenelle's  response. 

(i)  A  sculptor  is  reducing  a  block  of  marble.  At  each  stroke  the 
marble  groans  sadly.  The  sculptor  asks  for  the  cause  of  these  com- 
plaints. The  marble  declares  that  it  suffers  from  the  wounds.  "  But 
why  should  you  complain,"  demands  the  sculptor,  "  when  my  chisel 
is  making  the  statue  of  a  god  ?  "     Develop  the  dialogue. 

{])  By  drawing  upon  your  own  experience  in  the  study  of  the 
philosophic  writers  of  the  eighteenth  century,  write  a  letter  to  a  young 
English  friend  who  in  his  course  in  French  is  about  to  take  up  the 
study  of  Montesquieu. 


70     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

(k)  Analyze  in  the  Morceaux  Choisis  of  Desgranges,  pp.  216-18, 
the  extract  from  Montaigne  and  set  forth  (degager) :  (1)  Montaigne's 
theories  of  education;  (2)  the  characteristics  of  his  style;  (3)  some 
general  characteristics  of  the  Renaissance. 

(I)  Show  in  Lamartine's  Vlsolement  the  essential  characteristics 
of  the  romantic  state  of  mind. 

(m)  Charles  VIII  had  a  natural  taste  for  grand  exploits  and  heroic 
adventures.  One  day  he  was  enthusiastically  reading  the  Chanson 
de  Roland.  Anne  de  Beaujeu  tried  to  turn  his  attention  to  more 
practical  matters.     Try  to  imagine  the  scene  and  the  conversation. 

(n)  J.-J.  Rousseau  loved  nature  only  in  her  wild  state.  He  said  of 
the  French  gardens  of  the  seventeenth  century:  "  To  what  purpose 
are  these  walks,  so  straight,  so  carefully  covered  with  sand,  that  are 
found  everywhere  ?  and  these  stars,  that,  instead  of  spreading  before 
the  eyes  the  magnitude  of  a  park,  as  is  imagined,  serve  clumsily 
to  show  its  limits?  Does  one  see  in  the  midst  of  a  forest  the  sands  of 
a  river-bed  ?  or  does  the  foot  find  a  sweeter  comfort  in  the  sand  than 
on  the  moss  or  the  greensward  ?  Does  nature  employ  the  square  and 
the  rule  unceasingly  ?  Is  it  feared  that  she  will  be  recognized  in 
something,  in  spite  of  all  the  pains  taken  to  disfigure  her  ?  " 

Take  a  walk  through  the  gardens  of  the  Grand  and  the  Petit 
Trianon  [the  material  was  assigned  in  the  lycee  at  Versailles]  and 
reflect  upon  this  criticism  by  Rousseau.    Do  you  agree  with  him  ? 

A  glance  at  the  last  group  of  subjects  will  convince  one 
that  the  French  boy  of  sixteen  or  seventeen  years  must  do 
some  actual  thinking  for  himself.  And  so  far  as  I  had 
opportunity  to  observe,  he  is  able  to  do  it.  He  does  not,  I 
am  sure,  excel  the  American  boy  of  the  same  age  in  imagina- 
tive power.  The  American  boy,  in  spite  of  all  that  is  said 
about  our  utilitarian,  commercial  existence,  has  quite  a 
good  imagination.  Moreover,  by  force  of  our  free,  new, 
rapidly  developing  business  and  social  life,  he  has  a  wider 
vision  of  the  possibilities  of  the  world  than  the  French  boy 
has.  But  when  a  subject  calls  for  reflection,  for  pondering 
upon  important  points,  for  tracing  out  subordinate  lines  of 
thought,  for  thinking,  the  French  boy  of  the  same  age  is  his 
superior.     The  French  boy  thinks  rapidly,  accurately,  and, 


COMPOSITION  71 

despite  all  the  dissertations  on  French  superficiality,  he 
penetrates  into  things.  If  subjects  similar  to  the  ones  in- 
cluded in  this  last  group  were  drawn  from  English  litera- 
ture and  assigned  to  American  college  freshmen,  how  many 
of  them  would  be  able  to  treat  the  material  in  any  satisfac- 
tory manner  whatsoever  ? 

The  boy  in  the  lycee  finds  a  powerful  stimulus  to  write  on 
literary  subjects  of  this  kind  in  the  prospect  of  his  bacca- 
laureate examination.1  This  examination,  conducted  by 
an  impartial  jury  that  is  in  no  official  way  related  to  the 
lycee  from  which  a  boy  comes,  is  decidedly  rigid,  and  the 
composition  that  is  required  is  usually  regarded  as  the  most 
difficult  part  of  all.  The  candidate  must  not  only  possess 
knowledge  about  literature,  but  he  must  understand  the 
literature  itself,  he  must  be  able  to  reflect  upon  new  literary 
relations  or  new  ideas  suggested  by  the  examiners,  and  he 
must  be  able  to  explain  himself  to  others.  The  following 
subjects  are  typical  of  those  assigned  in  recent  years.  In 
a  given  examination  the  candidate  chooses  one  subject  from 
a  list  of  three.2  He  must  write  the  composition  in  a  period 
of  three  hours.  Ordinarily  he  writes  not  more  than  a 
dozen  pages. 

It  is  said  customarily  that  the  literature  of  the  seventeenth  century 
was  impersonal;  that  is,  the  personality  of  the  writer  did  not  reveal 
itself.    Discuss  this  assertion. 
Lille,  July,  1906. 

"  Victor  Hugo,"  wrote  a  critic,  "  thinks  only  in  images."     And  the 
great  poet's  imaginative  power  always  has  been  admired.     By  study- 
ing the  images  in  some  poem  of  his  that  you  care  to  choose,  see  if  you 
can  determine  just  what  this  power  is. 
Rennes,  October,  1905. 

1  For  a  further  discussion  of  the  baccalaureate  examination  and  its 
influence  on  the  mother  tongue,  see  Chapter  VII. 

2  The  subjects  are  arranged  by  groups  and  by  academies  in  Annates  du 
Baccalaureat.  Librairie  Vuibert.  In  a  few  instances  I  have  relied  upon 
other  sources. 


72   HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

Many  writers,  among  others  J.-J.  Rousseau  and  Lamartine,  have 
attacked  the  morality  of  La  Fontaine's  Fables.  Can  one  well  defend  it? 
Nancy,  July,  1909. 

Write  what  you  know  and  what  you  think  of  the  three  unities. 
Grenoble,  October,  1907. 

If  you  were  resolved  to  follow  the  life  of  a  colonist,  what  French 
colony  should  you  prefer  to  inhabit  ?     Indicate  the  reasons  for  your 
choice. 
Poitiers,  October,  1908. 

Discuss  this  thought  of  Joubert  and  verify  it  by  examples  drawn 
from  the  literature  of  the  last  three  centuries:  "  The  writers  who  have 
influence  are  only  the  men  who  express  perfectly  what  others  think, 
and  who  awaken  in  the  minds  of  others  the  ideas  or  sentiments  that 
tend  to  unfold  and  develop." 
Lyon,  July,  1905. 

Is  it  accurate  to  say  with  Buffon  that  genius  is  only  long  patience  ? 
Paris,  October,  1906. 

"  Who  is  the  man,"  asked  Madame  de  Stael,  "  whose  genius  is  not, 
in  a  great  many  respects,  the  result  of  the  age  in  which  he  lived  ?  " 
Comment  on  this  thought,  and  support  your  position  with  two  ex- 
amples, one  from  political  history  and  one  from  literature. 
Rennes,  July,  1906. 

What  do  you  think  of  this  idea  expressed  by  Thiers  in  the  preface 
of  his  Histoire  de  la  Revolution  ?     "  Perhaps  the  best  time  to  write 
history  is  just  when  the  participants  are  ready  to  die.     One  can  then 
collect  their  testimony  without  sharing  their  passions." 
Lyon,  October,  1907. 

Victor  Hugo  has  written  this  sentence,  rich  in  meaning  in  its  con- 
ciseness:   "Lyrical  genius:   to  be  oneself;    dramatic  genius:    to  be 
others."    What  do  you  think  about  it  ? 
Poitiers,  July,  1907. 

Explain  and  refute  this  thought  expressed  by  Maeterlinck  {L Intelli- 
gence des  fleurs,  the  chapter  entitled  V Inquietude  de  notre  morale) : 
"In  this  life  there  are  only  two  real  evils:    sickness  and  poverty; 
and  two  true  and  irreducible  goods:  health  and  riches." 
Bordeaux,  July,  1913. 

A  Une  Jeune  Morte 

Comme  on  voit  sur  la  branche  au  mois  de  mai  la  rose 

En  sa  belle  jeunesse,  en  sa  premiere  fleur, 

Rendre  le  ciel  jaloux  de  sa  vive  couleur, 

Quand  l'aube  de  ses  pleurs  au  point  du  jour  l'arrose, 


COMPOSITION  73 

La  grace  dans  sa  feuille  et  l'amour  se  repose, 
Embaumant  les  jardins  et  les  arbres  d'odeur; 
Mais,  battue  ou  de  pluie  ou  d'excessive  ardeur, 
Languissante  elle  meurt,  feuille  a  feuille  declose. 

Ainsi,  en  ta  premiere  et  jeune  nouveaute, 
Quand  la  terre  et  le  ciel  honoraient  ta  beauts, 
La  Parque  t'a  tuee,  et  cendre  tu  reposes. 

Pour  obseques  recois  mes  larmes  et  mes  pleurs, 
Ce  vase  plein  de  lait,  ce  panier  plein  de  fleurs, 
Ann  que,  vif  et  mort,  ton  corps  ne  soit  que  roses. 

(Ronsard,  Amours,  II,  14.) 

Justify,  from  the  point  of  view  of  thought,  sentiment,  and  style, 
the  judgment  of  M.  Emile  Faguet  on  this  sonnet:   "...  marvelous 
little  poem,  the  finest  perhaps  and  the  most  finished  of  all  the  works 
of  Ronsard." 
Grenoble,  October,  1913. 

When  the  news  of  the  death  of  Washington  reaches  France  (1799), 
La  Fayette  writes  to  one  of  his  friends.  In  deploring  this  loss,  he 
reviews  some  of  the  principal  episodes  in  the  life  of  Washington.  What 
a  work  he  leaves  after  him !  What  great  teachings  in  the  examples  he 
has  given!  [Develop.] 
Aix-Marseille,  July,  1913. 

It  is  said  of  the  eighteenth  century  that  it  was  peculiarly  "  the 
century  of  ideas."     What  is  to  be  understood  by  that  ?      Indicate 
some  ideas  that  we  owe  to  the  eighteenth  century. 
Paris,  October,  1913. 

Who  is  your  favorite  poet  ?  Explain  the  kind  of  pleasure  that  you 
derive  from  reading  him.  Above  all,  refrain  from  reciting  a  lesson  you 
have  learned;  say  simply,  and  as  elegantly  as  you  can,  that  which 
you  have  understood,  you.  And  do  not  write  upon  this  subject  unless 
you  can  discuss  a  poet  who  is  known  to  you  through  your  own  read- 
ing of  his  works  and  whom  you  prefer  to  all  others  through  your  own 
personal  taste.  Literary  platitudes  will  only  injure  your  case.  Give 
extreme  care  to  organization  and  style. 
Rennes,  July,  1913. 

What  benefit  have  you  derived  from  the  practice  of  translating  ? 
Aix-Marseille,  October,  1913. 

Of  all  the  great  [modern]  foreign  writers  that  you  have  read,  which 
one  seems  to  you  to  have  enriched  your  intellectual  and  moral  life 
most  ?     Develop  the  reasons  for  your  choice,  and  indicate  how  you 
are  indebted  to  this  writer. 
Paris,  July,  1913. 


74     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

Victor  Hugo  wrote  in  the  preface  to  Ruy  Bias;  "  That  which  the 
crowd  demands  almost  exclusively  in  a  dramatic  work  is  action;  that 
which  the  women  wish  before  all  is  passion;  that  which  the  thinkers 
search  for  especially  is  character."  Explain  this  view,  and  see  if 
among  the  plays  you  know,  you  can  think  of  any  that  meet  equally  all 
three  of  these  requirements. 
Lille,  July,  1913. 

Develop:  La  Fontaine,  at  the  Academy,  in  a  discussion  relative  to 
the  Dictionary,  defends  the  old  French  language  against  the  scruples 
of  those  who,  under  pretext  of  purifying  the  language,  impoverish  it. 
Grenoble,  July,  19 13. 

France  possesses  a  vast  colonial  empire.     Why  ought  she  to  keep 
it,  to  develop  it,  to  defend  it  ? 
Caen,  July,  1913. 

A  letter  from  Washington,  President  of  the  United  States,  to  his 
friend  La  Fayette  (August,  1789). 

He  congratulates  him  on  having  helped  to  give  liberty  to  France, 
after  having  done  so  much  toward  the  liberty  of  the  United  States. 

He  praises  La  Fayette  for  having  —  after  the  revolution  of  July  14 
—  established  order  and  tranquillity,  conditions  essential  to  liberty. 

At  the  end  he  gives  him  some  news,  and  tells  him  especially  about 
the  conditions  of  the  republic:  the  constitution  (quite  recent,  1787) 
is  beginning  to  have  effect  and  to  strengthen  the  United  States,  etc. 
Lille,  October,  1913. 

[A  specimen  group  of  subjects.     The  candidate  chooses  one.] 

(a)  Discuss  this  theory  of  Chateaubriand:  "  It  is  very  proper  and 
very  useful  to  understand,  to  study,  to  read  living  foreign  languages, 
rather  dangerous  to  speak  them,  and  extremely  dangerous  to  write 
them." 

(b)  General  Bonaparte  said  in  December,  1799,  in  a  proclamation: 
"  The  first  qualities  of  a  soldier  are  steadiness  and  discipline;  only 
after  these  comes  valor."  You  will  explain  this  thought,  illustrating 
it,  if  you  can,  with  some  examples  drawn  from  our  history. 

(c)  Is  one  justified  in  saying  "  the  gentle  Racine  "  ?  * 
Paris,  July,  1913. 

It  should  be  said  that  the  character  of  the  entire  school 
programme   helps   to   develop   this  power  to  analyze,  to 

1  I  am  aware  that  "  the  gentle  Racine  "  is  a  very  imperfect  rendering  of 
"  le  doux  Racine." 


COMPOSITION  75 

reflect.  Nevertheless,  a  large  part  of  it  is  due  to  the  care 
and  the  skill  with  which  subjects  for  written  work  are 
assigned.  Above  the  elementary  classes  the  material  is 
never  wholly  new,  never  wholly  familiar.  The  general 
practice  x  is  to  assign  material  just  within  reach,  so  that 
with  the  illumination  which  results  from  the  classroom 
preparation  for  writing,  the  pupils  will  have  enough  ac- 
quaintance with  the  subject  to  keep  them  from  becoming 
discouraged,  yet  not  enough  to  make  them  feel  satisfied 
and  indifferent. 

C.  The  Preparation  of  Material 

In  helping  pupils  toward  the  actual  process  of  writing 
down  what  they  have  to  say,  the  French  teachers  so  gener- 
ally follow  one  practice  that  it  must  be  regarded  as  an  essen- 
tial part  of  their  method  of  instruction.  This  is  the  working 
over  of  material  in  the  classroom.  Teachers  seem  to  feel 
that  their  first  duty  is  to  arouse  the  boy's  interest  in  his 
subject  and  to  put  his  mind  in  motion.  He  is  made  to  feel 
at  the  outset  that  he  must  not  attempt  to  organize  his 
material  —  much  less  to  write  —  until  he  knows  what  the 
material  really  is.  Hence  much  emphasis  is  placed  upon 
what  one  teacher  aptly  called  the  imaginative  part  of  com- 
posing. That  is  to  say,  the  boy  is  encouraged  to  let  his 
power  of  association  run  free  for  the  purpose  of  collecting 
as  many  ideas  or  images  as  possible.  His  only  aim  is  to 
reach  the  limits  of  his  subject;  nothing  that  promises  to  be 
of  the  least  value  is  permitted  to  escape.  After  these  mis- 
cellaneous ideas  or  images  are  jotted  down  or  by  some  other 
means  fixed  in  mind,  the  members  of  the  class  examine  them 
more  carefully.     And  here,  it  might  be  observed  in  passing, 

1  In  the  secondary  schools,  the  teacher  has  very  clear  directions  concerning 
the  assignment  of  material.  These  directions,  in  the  main,  represent  the 
practice  of  the  best  teachers.     See  Instructions,  pp.  78  and  80  f. 


76  HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

speech  is  brought  into  use  as  an  aid  to  writing.  The  exer- 
cise does  not  partake  in  the  least  of  the  nature  of  a  formal 
lesson  in  oral  composition,  but  the  members  of  the  class 
must  speak  accurately  and  clearly.  The  teacher  questions 
the  pupils,  the  pupils  question  the  teacher,  and  the  pupils 
question  one  another.  The  purpose  is  not  to  provide  the 
indolent  with  material  that  is  ready  to  use,  but  to  give 
everyone  enough  of  a  basis  to  enable  him  to  do  thinking  of 
his  own.  In  the  lower  grades,  the  exercise  is  frequently 
nothing  more  than  questions  and' answers  designed  to  reveal 
the  accuracy  with  which  observations  have  been  made;  but 
in  the  higher  grades  it  assumes  the  character  of  an  interest- 
ing round-table  discussion.  Let  us  consider  a  specific 
instance. 

The  boys  in  the  class  were  sixteen  years  old.  The  subject 
set  for  the  composition  was  the  one  quoted  from  Anatole 
France x  on  a  preceding  page:  "  Everything  I  saw  passing  in 
the  street,  —  the  people,  the  beasts,  the  inanimate  objects, 
—  contributed  more  than  one  would  believe  to  my  apprecia- 
tion of  the  simple  and  the  strong  in  life.  Nothing  is  better 
than  the  street  for  acquainting  a  child  with  the  social 
machine.  .  .  .  He  must  have  breathed  the  air  of  the  street 
in  order  to  learn  that  the  law  of  labor  is  divine  and  that 
every  man  must  perform  his  task  in  the  world."  On  the  day 
set  apart  for  the  reading  of  the  themes  written  on  this  sub- 
ject, the  discussion  that  preceded  the  constructive  criticism 
(see  page  82)  revealed  the  fact  that  even  the  smallest  details 
of  the  subject  had  been  taken  up  in  the  classroom  before  any 
of  the  pupils  had  begun  to  write.  It  was  very  obvious  that 
the  members  of  the  class  had  sought  together  to  define  "  the 
social  machine  ";  that  they  had  noted  the  author's  power  of 
close  observation;  and  that  they  had  talked  of  the  life  of  the 

1  This  seemed  to  be  a  favorite  subject. 


COMPOSITION  77 

street  as  they  themselves  knew  it,  and  had  made  a  list  of  the 
objects  which  give  the  street  its  variety.  This  list  included 
soldiers,  the  military  band,  grocers,  chauffeurs,  scissors- 
grinders,  poor  women  selling  cherries  or  apples,  coal  dealers, 
bakers,  thrifty  shop-owners,  day-laborers,  wealthy  men  and 
women  in  automobiles,  beggars,  children  selling  flowers,  and 
many  other  parts  of  "  the  social  machine."  Then  everyone 
had  tried  to  imagine  the  kind  of  houses  these  different 
classes  of  people  went  to  at  the  close  of  the  day;  the  kind  of 
food  they  ate;  the  kind  of  clothes  they  wore  in  the  evening; 
the  spirit  of  their  family  life ;  the  subjects  of  their  conversa- 
tion; and  even  the  newspapers  they  probably  read.  All  of 
these  matters  had  been  talked  over  without  restraint  in  the 
classroom;  and  it  was  only  after  the  pupils  had  seen  the 
material  in  this  very  concrete  way  that  they  were  asked  to 
think  about  its  significance  and  to  put  their  conclusions  into 
organized  form.1 

The  French  teacher's  relation  to  the  pupil  who  is  organiz- 
ing material  for  a  theme  is  deserving  of  notice.  He  does  not 
relieve  himself  of  responsibility  by  saying  to  the  pupil, 
"  Now  you  have  seen  some  of  the  material  that  our  subject 
includes;  write  what  you  have  to  say."  Instead,  he  re- 
gards the  pupil  all  the  while  —  especially  in  the  lower  and 
middle  grades  —  as  a  learner  who  needs  direction.  He  does 
not  look  upon  a  fourteen-year-old  boy  as  a  sufficient  master 
of  thought  and  language  to  write,  unaided,  about  a  subject 
of  any  consequence.  "  If  he  is  able  to  do  this,"  I  was  fre- 
quently told,  "  then  he  needs  no  teacher."  And  there 
seems  to  be  no  fear  whatever  about  destroying  the  pupil's 
self-reliance.     It  seems  to  be  taken  for  granted  that  a  boy 

1  After  this  chapter  was  made  into  page  proof  I  received  from  a  French 
lycSe  several  outlines  and  themes  developed  in  this  manner  by  teacher  and 
pupils  on  "  The  Supposed  Speech  of  Theodore  Roosevelt  at  Chicago  in 
Favor  of  the  Allies." 


78  HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

may  develop  self-reliance  through  foresight  as  well  as 
through  unguided  struggle. 

The  character  of  the  teacher's  assistance  depends,  of 
course,  on  the  age  of  the  pupils  and  the  kind  of  material. 
In  classes  of  boys  ten  or  twelve  years  old,  I  saw  the  teacher 
go  to  the  extent  of  working  out  with  the  pupils  a  fairly 
definite  plan  of  the  composition  they  were  to  write.  Some- 
times, too,  a  pupil  was  called  upon  to  give  a  little  lecture 
of  three  or  five  minutes,  so  that  he  and  the  class  might  see 
how  much  there  was  to  say  on  the  subject,  and  how  all  the 
material,  if  thought  through  clearly,  would  fall  readily  into 
place.  Here  is  an  example,  —  which  incidentally  repre- 
sents a  type  of  "  moral  "  subject  that  one  finds  now  and 
then,  particularly  in  the  primary  schools.  The  teacher 
and  pupils  discussed  the  assignment  for  a  time  and  made 
this  rough  plan  on  the  blackboard: 

So  Far  as  Possible  We  should  be  Obliging  to 
Everybody 
I.   An  example. 

i.  The  service  rendered. 
2.   The  recompense. 
II.   The  scope  of  the  subject. 

III.  Recollection  of  various  instances. 

IV.  Concluding  observations. 

Then  several  pupils  were  asked  to  tell  briefly  how  they  would 
treat  the  subject,  and  to  give  instances  of  the  rewards  of 
being  thoughtful  for  others.  After  these  little  lectures, 
each  pupil  turned  immediately  to  the  task  of  converting 
the  general  outline  into  a  specific  composition.  In  the 
upper  classes,  the  assignment  may  be  made  without  much 
supplementary  comment  if  the  theme  is  to  be  based  upon 
reading.  I  noticed,  however,  that  when  a  specific  poem 
or  passage  of  prose  constituted  the  subject-matter  of  the 
theme,  the  classroom  discussion  was  very  complete. 


COMPOSITION  79 

IV.  THE   CRITICISM  OF  THEMES 

A.  Ideals  ln  Criticism 

Although  teachers  of  the  mother  tongue  do  not  hold  with 
perfect  unanimity  to  one  ideal  in  grading  written  work,  one 
party  is  to-day  so  overwhelmingly  in  the  majority  that  it 
may  almost  be  said  to  represent  the  conviction  of  the  entire 
country.  There  was  a  time  —  I  was  told  frequently,  and 
could  easily  accept  the  statement  as  the  truth  —  when  a 
large  per  cent  of  the  teachers  insisted  that  every  pupil, 
regardless  of  his  interests  or  his  plans  for  life,  should  write 
with  conventional  literary  finish.  But  to-day  the  pre- 
vailing belief  is  that,  above  all,  a  boy  should  be  able  to  think 
with  vigor,  to  organize  his  thoughts  with  sureness,  and  to 
express  himself  with  correctness  and  with  faithfulness  to  his 
own  temperament  and  character.  In  other  words,  most 
teachers  believe  that  the  great  body  of  boys  in  the  upper 
grades  should  be  trained  in  normal  expression,  rather  than 
in  any  special  graces  that  might  be  desired  by  the  occasional 
genius.  The  prevailing  ideal,  then,  is  not  to  make  a  great 
body  of  literary  writers,  however  desirable  it  might  be  to  do 
so,  but  to  enable  boys,  whatever  their  chief  interests  in  life, 
to  think  their  thoughts  out  into  the  best  expression  possible, 
to  record  their  feelings  with  accuracy  and  honesty,  and  to 
feel  the  importance  of  putting  everything  into  good  form. 
There  is  no  abandoning  of  the  ideal  of  good  form;  the 
majority  of  the  teachers  to-day  insist  merely  that  there  be 
a  wider  interpretation  of  the  term  so  that  it  may  be  applied 
to  things  practical  and  scientific  as  well  as  to  things  wholly 
literary. 

Invariably  in  criticism,  teachers  dwell  upon  subject- 
matter  and  its  organization.  Contrary  to  popular  peda- 
gogical notions  current  in  some  parts  of  our  own  country, 


80     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

French  teachers  do  not  busy  themselves  with  lessons  in 
literary  millinery  or  any  other  artificial  kind  of  decoration. 
Of  course,  in  the  early  grades  the  matters  to  receive  chief 
attention  are  ordinary  accuracy  and  conventional  correct- 
ness. In  the  upper  grades,  however,  these  give  way  to 
problems  of  structure.  Material,  the  larger  and  smaller 
questions  of  organization,  the  total  effect  of  what  has  been 
written,  —  these  are  the  matters  that  receive  chief  con- 
sideration. The  examination  of  any  large  number  of 
graded  themes  will  help  one  to  see  the  force  of  this  assertion. 
"  You  seem  to  have  a  firm  grasp  of  the  subject."  "  The 
repetition  of  the  same  idea  here  weakens  the  effect  of  the 
entire  theme."  "  You  introduce  the  subject  well."  "  The 
introduction  is  beside  the  point;  the  purpose  of  an  intro- 
duction is  to  introduce."  "  The  introduction  is  too  long;  it 
leads  you  away  from  your  subject."  "  The  ideas  are  to  the 
point,  although  some  of  them  are  not  treated  fully  enough, 
and  they  are  expressed  in  a  style  at  once  correct  and  extremely 
clear."  "  Where  does  this  paragraph  belong  ?  It  seems  to 
stand  out  in  space."  "  You  have  used  your  imagination 
well."  "  Your  reflection  seems  not  to  have  been  very 
profound."     So  the  marginal  comments  run. 

To  be  sure,  mechanical  details  are  not  overlooked  if  they 
need  attention;  but  in  the  higher  grades  one  finds  compara- 
tively few  faults  of  this  kind.  In  my  visits  from  school  to 
school  it  was  a  perpetual  delight  to  see  the  thoughtfully 
prepared,  carefully  and  cleanly  written  manuscripts  that 
pupils  submitted.  I  do  not  wish  to  leave  the  impression 
that  France  is  an  ideal  land  where  pupils  write  only  good 
compositions;  but  most  pupils  write  with  a  large  degree  of 
care.  The  spirit  of  the  school  fosters  accuracy  and  thought- 
fulness.  And  in  cases  where  the  inevitable  poor  pupil  risks 
violating  custom  by  handing  in  "  sloppy  "  work,  the  teacher 


COMPOSITION  8 1 

is  likely  to  regard  his  action  as  a  personal  insult.  Thus  it 
comes  about  that  the  feeling  among  pupils  against  careless- 
ness and  childish  errors  is  so  pronounced  that  the  teacher  of 
advanced  classes  need  say  comparatively  little  concerning 
"  the  mechanics  "  of  writing.  He  can  place  emphasis  upon 
larger  matters  because  he  is  reasonably  free  from  the  neces- 
sity of  trying  to  correct  faults  that  should  have  been  dealt 
with  in  the  earlier  grades  of  the  school. 

B.  The  Method  of  Criticism 

The  usual  method  of  criticising  themes  is  significant  in  at 
least  two  respects.  In  the  first  place,  the  teacher  makes  a 
very  large  part  of  his  criticism  orally  in  the  presence  of  the 
entire  class.  The  written  criticism  is  not  slighted.  But  the 
vigorous  classroom  discussion  is  regarded  as  the  chief  means 
of  helping  pupils  to  do  better  work. 

Ordinarily  when  the  teacher  begins  this  oral  part  of  the 
criticism,  he  first  satisfies  himself  that  the  pupils  are  wide 
awake  and  intent  upon  the  matter  in  hand.  Sometimes  he 
accomplishes  this  end  by  asking  rapid-fire  questions  about  a 
number  of  different  themes ;  sometimes  he  directs  questions 
to  three  or  four  pupils  about  one  theme ;  and  sometimes  he 
calls  a  pupil  to  the  desk,  asks  him  to  stand  so  that  his  class- 
mates may  hear,  and  then  plies  him  with  questions  solely 
about  the  theme  he  himself  has  submitted.  In  some  such 
manner  the  teacher  stimulates  an  intellectual  activity  that 
is  a  sure  guarantee  against  Hfelessness  in  the  lesson  proper. 
Once  this  is  begun,  the  teacher  usually  gives  all  his  attention 
to  the  discussion  of  a  few  typical  weaknesses  or  typical  evi- 
dences of  strength.  There  is  no  over-magnifying  of  details 
—  if  the  pupil  has  neglected  them  he  is  hastily  ridiculed  or 
completely  ignored  —  and  there  is  little  turning  aside  to 
matters   that   are   only  incidental.     Almost  all  effort  is 


82      HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

directed  upon  a  few  essential  matters  that  are  vital  to  a 
large  per  cent  of  the  class. 

The  method  of  criticism  is  significant,  secondly,  because 
of  its  genuinely  constructive  nature.  Teachers,  as  a  rule, 
do  not  content  themselves  with  showing  pupils  how  themes 
are  faulty  or  weak  or  uninteresting,  but  point  out  clearly 
how  they  might  be  made  better.  Prevailing  faults  are 
dealt  with,  most  certainly;  but  much  more  time  is  devoted 
to  pointing  out  qualities  that  are  good.  Frequently  poor 
work  is  put  alongside  good  work,  so  that  the  pupils  may  see 
more  readily  just  how  far  the  one  is  from  the  other.  Some- 
times the  comparison  is  humiliating  to  one  of  the  pupils,  but 
the  teacher  seems  to  worry  very  little  about  that  fact.  He 
wants  the  comparison  to  have  its  full  force.  Neither  does 
he  group  all  the  grades  of  the  better  pupils  between  90  and 
92TVX  He  does  not  deal  harshly  with  the  pupil  who  because 
of  little  ability  cannot  do  well;  but  he  does  not  try  to  con- 
ceal anyone's  weakness.  His  purpose  is  to  lead  all  the 
pupils  of  the  class  to  do  better  the  next  time,  and  if  one 
boy's  fault  will  be  of  service  to  himself  or  his  classmates  in 
future  work,  the  teacher's  sensitiveness  about  "  hurting 
some  one's  feelings  "  is  not  likely  to  stand  in  the  way.  He 
points  out  pitfalls,  and  he  dwells  upon  the  good  qualities 
that  individual  themes  possess.  Then  he  is  almost  certain 
to  follow  a  plan  of  rebuilding  that  is  recommended  in  the 
Instructions  2  for  secondary  teachers.  In  this  he  and  the 
pupils  bring  together  the  good  qualities  of  the  themes  that 
have  been  read,  and  the  teacher's  and  the  pupils'  best 
notions  of  what  a  theme  ought  to  be,  and  fuse  them  into 
a  kind  of  ideal  theme,  so  that  every  pupil  may  see  how  good 

1  Most  teachers,  I  noticed,  graded  work  on  the  basis  of  20,  and  it  was 
not  unusual  to  see  the  grades  range  from  4  or  6  to  18  or  19.  Usually  each 
pupil  was  required  to  stand  up  when  the  teacher  announced  his  grade. 

2  Page  82. 


COMPOSITION  8$ 

the  work  would  be  if  it  were  the  result  of  the  combined 
intelligence  of  the  class.  Thus  no  pupil  is  left  with  the 
crushing  conviction  that  there  is  no  direction  in  which  he 
may  improve  himself. 

C.  The  Spirit  of  the  Criticism 

The  spirit  of  the  classroom  criticism  is  at  once  sympa- 
thetic and  stimulating.  It  cannot  be  said  to  be  arbitrary, 
yet  it  is  not  so  vague  or  indefinite  or  "  broad  "  that  it  loses 
its  force.  If  the  matter  under  consideration  at  a  given  time 
admits  of  positive  decision,  the  teacher  renders  the  decision 
and  the  case  ends  there.  If  it  is  a  question  of  good  or 
better,  or  bad  or  worse,  and  the  teacher  expresses  his 
opinion,  he  ordinarily  explains  his  position.  But  in  all 
cases  of  mere  opinion,  pupils  are  encouraged  to  follow  their 
own  reasoning  or  their  own  feeling;  and  if  they  do  not  agree 
with  the  teacher,  they  usually  have  the  utmost  liberty  in 
expressing  their  dissent.  The  result  is  an  exceedingly  frank 
and  open  relation  between  pupil  and  teacher  and  between 
pupil  and  pupil.  The  boy  is  sure  to  feel  that  the  teacher 
remembers  how  perplexing  it  is  to  learn  to  write;  but  he 
seldom  has  reason  for  believing  that  the  teacher  will  be  a 
substitute  for  his  own  power  of  thinking.  He  is  expected 
to  use  his  own  intelligence  and  he  must  measure  it  not  only 
with  the  intelligence  of  his  classmates  but  with  that  of  his 
teacher.  I  frequently  saw  classes  so  thoroughly  in  earnest 
about  some  question  growing  out  of  their  written  exercises 
that  it  was  with  difficulty  that  the  teacher  prevented  all  the 
members  from  speaking  at  once.  Perhaps  as  frequently  I 
saw  the  boys  in  the  class  stand  unanimously,  or  almost 
unanimously,  against  the  teacher;  and  they  took  a  respect- 
ful delight  in  putting  him  on  the  defensive.  Fortunately 
he  was  usually  so  well  prepared  to  defend  himself  that  he 


84     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

accepted  their  challenge  gladly,  and  without  the  slightest 
loss  of  temper  put  them  to  their  wit's  end  in  an  effort  to 
maintain  their  position.  This  characteristic  kind  of  criti- 
cism is,  then,  neither  deadening  nor  consoling.  It  is  a  kind 
of  good-natured  warfare  in  which  there  is  enough  of  the 
sting  of  battle  to  keep  one  active,  and  enough  reward  to 
make  the  participants  feel  that  they  are  moving  forward. 
I  have  never  seen  a  better  means  of  making  advanced  pupils 
feel  that  writing  is  a  vital  question  of  conscience  which 
everyone  must  in  a  large  measure  settle  for  himself. 

D.  Economy  in  Grading  Themes 

Conscientious  criticism  of  this  kind  makes  great  de- 
mands upon  a  teacher's  energy  and  time;  there  is  no 
denying  the  fact.  It  seems  to  be  clearly  understood  by 
French  teachers  of  the  mother  tongue  that  the  grading  of 
themes  implies  long  hours  of  patient  labor.  I  found  no 
teacher  who  professed  to  believe  that  anybody  could  dis- 
cover a  "  royal  incline  "  that  would  save  one  from  the  an- 
noyance of  serious  effort.  There  seemed  to  be  a  definite 
feeling  that  only  the  very  simplest  labor-saving  devices 
are  worth  while.  I  saw  no  magical  methods  of  having  pupils 
improve  their  writing  while  the  themes  were  carefully  con- 
cealed in  the  teacher's  desk  until  they  were  forgotten  — 
by  both  pupils  and  teacher;  I  discovered  no  complicated 
systems  of  symbols  and  exponents  as  a  substitute  for 
corrections  or  even  conferences;  and  I  saw  no  idealistic 
schemes  of  having  the  pupils  themselves  or  the  teachers  in 
other  departments  help  to  grade  the  papers  submitted  in 
classes  in  the  mother  tongue.  Pupils  frequently  grade  one 
another's  themes,  but  the  exercise  is  designed  primarily 
to  help  the  pupils  rather  than  the  teacher.     The  great, 


COMPOSITION  85 

heavy  burden  of  theme-reading  is  regarded  by  teachers  as 
one  of  the  inevitable  but  fruitful  duties  of  their  pro- 
fession. 

There  are,  however,  a  number  of  things  that  serve  to 
economize  the  teacher's  energy  and  to  render  his  work  much 
less  disagreeable  than  most  American  teachers  of  English 
think  theme-reading  must  always  be.  In  the  first  place, 
because  of  the  exacting  drill  to  which  the  pupil  has  been 
submitted  in  his  early  life,  his  themes  are  not  so  full  of 
faults.  Then,  as  we  shall  see  in  Chapter  VII,  the  French 
teacher,  with  the  exception  of  the  lower  grade  teacher  in  the 
primary  school  system,  is  not  obliged  to  work  so  many  hours 
a  week  that  he  has  no  spare  time  for  marking  written  exer- 
cises. Again,  he  does  not  look  upon  theme-correcting  as  a 
disgraceful  kind  of  drudgery  that  ought  to  be  heaped  upon 
some  one  who  has  not  the  ambition  or  the  intelligence  to  do 
the  less  strictly  routine  part  of  the  teacher's  work.  This 
wholesome  attitude  in  itself  tends  to  make  the  reading  less 
irksome.  Then,  too,  the  broad  training  which  teachers 
have  received  gives  them  a  rich  background  that  is  espe- 
cially serviceable  in  marking  themes.  Finally,  and  chiefly, 
the  French  teacher  saves  himself  almost  immeasurably  by 
the  careful  preparation  he  requires  the  pupils  to  make  before 
they  begin  writing.  Instead  of  leaving  a  score  of  questions 
unsettled  when  he  assigns  a  subject,  he  suggests,  warns,  and, 
through  the  methods  I  have  already  mentioned,  brings  the 
pupils  to  foresee  and  guard  against  a  great  many  errors  that 
otherwise  would  rise  up  for  treatment  after  the  themes  had 
been  submitted.  Aside  from  the  unmistakable  influence 
that  these  pre-writing  discussions  have  upon  a  pupil's  habit 
of  thought,  they  save  the  teacher  an  overwhelming  amount 
of  unnecessary  labor. 


86     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

V.  THE    WRITING    AND    SPEAKING    IN    OTHER    SUBJECTS 

The  value  of  the  training  the  French  boy  receives  in  his 
courses  in  composition  is  increased  materially  by  the  char- 
acter of  the  writing  he  is  required  to  do  in  other  subjects. 
It  would  be  exaggeration,  assuredly,  to  say  that  his  writing 
in  these  other  subjects  is  always  done  just  as  carefully  as 
that  which  he  submits  to  his  teacher  of  composition;  and  it 
would  be  just  as  great  an  overstatement  to  say  that  every 
teacher  of  mathematics,  botany,  and  history  is  as  much 
interested  in  the  character  of  his  pupils'  writing  as  he  is  in 
the  subject  he  teaches.  Nevertheless,  the  quality  of  this 
writing  which  is  done  as  a  part  of  the  work  in  other  classes 
receives  a  degree  of  attention  from  both  pupil  and  teacher 
that  in  America  may  be  found  only  in  unusual  instances. 
Teachers  in  France  would  protest  against  the  assertion 
that  they  had  attained  an  ideal  condition  in  this  respect; 
many  of  them  feel,  as  we  feel  in  America,  that  other  de- 
partments too  often  neglect  the  quality  of  pupils'  lan- 
guage. Yet  when  one  compares  the  practices  of  the  two 
countries,  one  cannot  refrain  from  felicitating  the  teacher  of 
the  mother  tongue  in  France  upon  the  more  conscientious, 
more  intelligent  support  he  receives  from  his  colleagues  in 
other  fields  of  study.  The  result  is  not  difficult  to  see. 
When  the  boy  is  obliged  to  write  well  in  his  other  courses, 
he  sooner  or  later  reaches  the  conclusion  that  all  writing  is 
important.  He  therefore  not  only  gains  from  the  thought- 
ful practice  which  he  carries  on  in  history,  civics,  and  phys- 
ics or  botany,  but  he  derives  new  profit  from  his  instruction 
in  composition.  His  teacher  of  the  mother  tongue  ceases 
to  be  a  person  who  is  paid  to  talk  about  something  that 
is  unimportant  except  to  himself,  and  becomes  a  person 
of  consequence  who  can  help  one  in  doing  what  everybody 
seems  to  think  is  worth  doing  well. 


COMPOSITION  87 

A  large  part  of  this  outside  writing  is  done  in  the  general 
notebook  that  every  pupil  in  the  lower  and  middle  grades  is 
required  to  keep.  In  it,  as  was  pointed  out  at  the  beginning 
of  this  chapter,  the  boy  writes  almost  everything  save  his 
regular  compositions,  which  are  written  on  theme  paper  or 
in  a  special  set  of  composition  books.  Assignments  for  the 
following  day,  the  solution  of  problems  in  arithmetic,  lessons 
in  vocabulary,  experiments  in  elementary  science,  dictations 
in  the  mother  tongue,  lessons  in  grammar,  questions  on  the 
reading  lesson  for  the  succeeding  day,  lessons  in  orthog- 
raphy, lessons  in  geography,  and  maxims  upon  which 
pupils  might  ponder  with  profit,  —  all  these  are  copied  in 
the  general  notebook.  A  series  of  these  books,  then,  con- 
stitutes a  rather  complete  record  of  a  pupil's  daily  school 
life;  and,  as  might  be  supposed,  the  amount  of  writing  which 
their  preparation  requires  is  considerable.  One  set  which  I 
brought  away  with  me  consists  of  sixteen  well-filled  note- 
books of  thirty  good-sized  pages  each,  or  nearly  five  hundred 
pages  in  all.  These  were  written  by  a  boy  of  thirteen  in  the 
course  of  one  school  year.  Now  it  may  be  seen  readily  that 
this  writing,  if  done  under  any  reasonably  favorable  cir- 
cumstances, would  give  a  boy  much  practice  in  expressing 
himself  eorrectly  and  clearly.  When,  however,  he  writes 
with  the  full  conviction  that  his  work  will  be  examined  crit- 
ically, the  value  of  the  practice  is  greatly  increased.  He 
knows  that  the  teacher  will  call  for  his  book  from  time  to 
time  and  mark  it  up  with  red  ink  very  much  as  if  it  were  a 
theme;  so  he  writes  carefully.  In  the  course  of  four  or 
five  years,  then,  the  notebooks  cannot  fail  to  be  of  un- 
questioned value  in  forming  habits  of  natural,  thoughtful 
expression. 

The  occasional  papers  in  other  courses,  and  the  notebooks 
required  in  advanced  classes  in  certain  subjects,  likewise 


88      HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

receive  care.  I  was  especially  impressed  by  the  neatness 
and  accuracy  with  which  the  students  in  the  normal-school 
classes  did  all  of  their  writing.  I  noticed,  moreover,  that 
many  of  the  corrections  on  advanced  papers  had  to  do  with 
the  organization  of  the  material  and  with  smaller  questions 
of  clearness.  Furthermore,  I  had  the  refreshing  experience 
on  a  few  occasions  of  seeing  the  teacher  of  civics,  ethics,  or 
philosophy  call  a  seventeen-year-old  boy  to  the  floor,  read 
from  a  paper  he  had  submitted,  and  ask  him  what  he  really 
meant  when  he  expressed  himself  in  that  manner.  If  the 
pupil  then  explained  himself  clearly,  the  teacher  would 
demand  why  he  did  not  make  himself  understood  in  the  first 
place.  And  if  the  fault  was  inappropriateness  rather  than 
vagueness  or  obscurity,  the  criticism  was  scarcely  less  severe. 
In  fact,  whatever  the  prevailing  faults  of  expression,  there 
seemed  to  be  no  assurance  for  the  pupil  that  the  teacher 
would,  by  passing  over  them  habitually,  permit  himself  to 
undo  the  work  of  the  teacher  of  composition  and  literature. 
The  critical  attitude  toward  all  of  the  pupil's  written  work 
is  maintained  also  toward  his  speech.  This  fact  was  brought 
to  my  notice  in  a  striking  manner  the  first  time  I  visited  a 
class  in  science.  The  pupils,  most  of  them  aged  nine,  were 
having  a  first  lesson  in  geography.  In  the  course  of  the 
discussion,  the  teacher  asked  one  of  the  boys  to  describe  a 
volcano.  The  little  fellow  said  in  his  descriptive  explana- 
tion that  the  volcano  built  a  mountain  of  itself  shaped 
"  like  this,"  indicating  the  cone-form  with  his  hands.  The 
teacher  reprimanded  him  sharply  for  resorting  to  such  a 
makeshift,  and  suggested  that  he  be  thoughtful  enough  in 
the  future  to  express  himself  in  words.  If  I  had  encountered 
no  other  cases,  I  might  have  thought  this  only  the  whim  of 
an  extremely  sensitive  teacher.  But  as  I  visited  other 
classes  in  a  variety  of  subjects,  I  came  to  see  that  most 


COMPOSITION  89 

French  teachers  have  a  well-developed  conscience  in  respect 
to  such  matters.  They  do  not  drive  a  boy  to  abandon 
spontaneous  speech,  but  they  do  insist  that  he  make  clear- 
cut,  straightforward  answers,  and  that  they  be  phrased  in 
reasonably  acceptable  language. 

VI.  SUMMARY 

The  attention,  then,  that  the  actual  business  of  writing 
receives  in  the  French  schools  is  a  matter  not  only  of  ade- 
quate instruction,  but  of  full  and  definite  practice  under 
stimulating  circumstances.  Composition  is  held  up  as  a 
very  important  part  —  in  fact,  the  most  important  part  — 
of  the  course  in  the  mother  tongue.  Studies  in  vocabulary 
and  practice  in  dictation  are  carried  on  constantly  in  the 
lower  grades  in  order  that  the  boy  may  express  himself  with- 
out hindrance  when  he  is  once  old  enough  to  have  something 
of  his  own  to  say  in  organized  compositions.  The  material 
assigned  is  regarded  as  a  matter  of  great  moment.  It  is  in- 
tended to  develop,  in  order,  the  powers  of  attention  and 
observation,  the  imagination,  and  habits  of  reflection.  This 
material,  moreover,  is  almost  invariably  discussed  in  the 
classroom  until  the  pupil  is  awakened  and  interested;  and 
when  he  writes  upon  it,  he  must  give  the  most  thoughtful 
care  to  organization  and  general  good  form.  In  the  criti- 
cism of  themes,  oral  discussion  holds  a  large  place.  Further- 
more, the  teacher  makes  his  critical  suggestions  distinctly 
constructive;  that  is,  he  emphasizes  the  difference  between 
poor  work  and  good,  and  he  leads  the  pupils  to  reflect  upon 
the  possibilities  that  the  subject-matter  possesses,  rather 
than  upon  the  magnitude  of  their  own  shortcomings.  And 
finally,  the  training  that  pupils  receive  in  the  study  of  the 
mother  tongue  is  reenforced  to  no  small  degree  by  the  work 
in  other  subjects. 


CHAPTER  IV 

GRAMMAR 

Actual  practice  is  the  chief  means  by  which  the  French 
boy  learns  to  write ;  but  it  is  not  the  sole  means.  It  is  only 
the  center  about  which  other  good  influences  are  built.  In 
general,  the  French  teacher  is  not  afraid  to  give  the  boy  a 
little  supplementary,  buttressing  knowledge,  whether  or  not 
it  promises  to  be  immediately  "  practical  ";  so  he  does  not 
content  himself  to  let  the  pupil  grope  along  in  his  writing 
without  some  organized  information  concerning  the  lan- 
guage he  attempts  to  employ.  Grammar,  therefore,  is 
taught.  And  by  grammar  I  do  not  mean  predigested 
"  language  lessons,"  but  real  grammar  that  treats  openly, 
and  without  apology,  such  principles  as  render  language 
relations  both  intelligible  and  serviceable.  The  Instructions 
issued  by  the  Minister  make  the  general  attitude  toward 
the  teaching  of  grammar  unmistakably  clear:  "  French  is  a 
living  language  which  is  known  poorly  if  it  is  learned  merely 
by  usage.     The  study  of  grammar  is,  then,  a  necessity."  x 

I.  THE   PREDOMINANT   PURPOSE   IN  TEACHING   GRAMMAR 

The  chief  purpose  in  teaching  grammar  is  nowise  vague 
or  pedagogically  mysterious;  it  is  to  help  the  boy  to  gain  a 
better  working  acquaintance  with  the  language  he  speaks 
and  writes.  The  value  of  grammatical  exercises  as  training, 
as  a  means  of  developing  the  power  to  discriminate,  to 
judge,  is  not  disregarded  or  underestimated;  but  the  chief 

1  Instructions,  p.  72. 
00 


GRAMMAR  91 

aim  is  a  mastery  of  the  tools  of  everyday  expression.  Al- 
though it  is  not  believed  by  anyone  —  so  far  as  I  was  able 
to  learn  —  that  a  knowledge  of  grammatical  principles  will 
inevitably  lead  one  to  speak  or  write  correctly,  it  is  gen- 
erally maintained  that  this  knowledge,  if  acquired  under 
favorable  conditions,  is  of  some  definite  value  as  a  part  of 
the  pupil's  equipment  for  effective  expression. 

II.  THE  EARLY  BEGINNING 

This  definite  purpose  in  teaching  grammar  goes  far  in 
determining  when  the  pupil  must  begin  its  study.  If  gram- 
mar is  to  be  of  value  at  all  to  the  pupil  when  he  writes,  so 
French  teachers  explain,  he  must  study  its  elements  while 
he  is  young,  and  he  must  master  a  few  things  so  thoroughly 
that  they  cease  to  be  mere  knowledge  and  become  habit  and 
feeling.  Instruction,  therefore,  begins  early.  The  boy  of  six 
or  seven  is  mastering  the  simpler  teDses  of  etre  (to  be)  and 
avoir  (to  have),  and  by  the  time  he  has  reached  the  age  of 
eight  or  nine,  he  is  able  to  discuss  the  function  of  the  differ- 
ent parts  of  speech  and  to  talk  in  grammatical  terms  about 
the  simpler  forms  of  the  sentence.  As  a  rule,  French 
teachers  seem  not  to  be  proud  of  the  distinction  they  have 
had  in  the  past  of  being  called  the  best  grammarians  in 
the  world;  they  seem  to  feel  that  the  compliment  carries 
a  suggestion  that  they  are  overnice  about  matters  of  usage. 
But  they  have  not,  as  a  consequence,  been  led  from  the 
belief  that  a  little  grammar  is  good  for  a  boy's  writing.  They 
take  the  position  that  if  a  boy  has  anything  to  say,  his 
ability  to  say  it  well  must  eventually  depend  in  large  meas- 
ure upon  his  skill  in  handling  the  sentence,  and  that  this 
skill  must  come  in  part  from  deep-seated,  long-established 
knowledge  of  sentence  elements.  If  a  boy  is  to  resist  the 
bad  language  influences  of  the  street,  he  must  have  adequate 


92     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

knowledge  with  which  to  fortify  the  good  habits  that  he 
forms  at  school  or  at  home.  Thus  it  comes  to  pass  that  the 
boy  not  only  knows  how  to  write  a  sentence,  but  he  knows 
when  he  has  written  one,  and  he  can  think  about  it  in  terms 
that  are  immediately  clear  and  that  are  serviceable  to  him 
in  thinking  about  all  other  sentences. 

The  advantage  of  beginning  while  the  pupil  is  young  does 
not  end,  however,  with  the  early  formation  of  good  language 
habits.  If  boys  and  girls  of  thirteen  or  fourteen  could  form 
new  habits  or  acquire  new  knowledge  about  language  easily, 
there  would  still  be  a  very  good  pedagogical  reason  why  they 
should  begin  the  study  of  grammar  while  they  are  young. 
When  grammar  is  postponed  until  the  boy  is  in  the  seventh 
or  eighth  grade,  or  possibly  in  the  high  school,  he  has  come 
to  look  upon  his  studies  as  so  many  courses  to  take.  Gram- 
mar, therefore,  may  readily  seem  to  be  some  new  subject  as 
foreign  to  his  everyday  life  as  solid  geometry  or  ancient 
history.  And  when  grammar  is  for  this  reason  dull  and  dry, 
nothing,  it  seems,  could  be  duller  or  drier.  The  teacher,  as 
well  as  the  pupil,  looks  upon  it  as  " formal  grammar"  or 
"technical  grammar,"  and  they  unite  in  wishing  it  had 
never  found  its  way  into  the  school  course.  Now  when  a 
boy  begins  as  soon  as  he  enters  school,  and  hears  grammar 
and  lessons  in  grammar  always  associated  with  writing, 
speaking,  and  reading,  he  accepts  the  study  as  a  very  natural 
part  of  his  work  in  the  mother  tongue;  and  as  his  lessons 
become  more  substantial  and  more  complex  in  the  progress 
of  his  school  career,  he  never  arrives  at  the  point  where  he  is 
obliged  to  take  up  "the  subject  of  grammar."  Conse- 
quently he  has  no  opportunity  to  feel  that  he  is  about  to 
study  something  so  obviously  useless  that  he  has  been  able 
to  "get  along"  without  it  all  these  years. 


GRAMMAR  93 

III.    SIMPLIFICATION 

The  clearly  conceived  purpose  of  teaching  grammar  for 
its  effect  upon  the  pupil's  expression,  and  the  consequent 
belief  that  the  study  should  begin  early,  explain  in  large 
degree  the  simplification  of  grammatical  subject-matter 
and  method  that  has  been  taking  place  in  France  recently. 
France,  to  a  greater  extent  than  America,  passed  through  a 
period  when  grammar  was  a  cumbersome,  difficult  subject. 
Yet  French  teachers  seem  to  have  agreed  much  more 
generally  than  Americans  that  the  older  formal  grammar 
possessed  real  value,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  it  was 
sometimes  loaded  down  with  many  things  either  non- 
essential or  positively  injurious.  In  their  reforms,  then, 
instead  of  discarding  grammar  completely,  or  almost  com- 
pletely, as  was  done  in  many  states  in  our  own  country,  they 
tried  to  eliminate  the  unimportant  and  the  injurious  and 
keep  the  valuable.  As  the  strongly  fortified  traditions  in 
grammar-teaching  began  to  give  way,  educators  came  to  see 
that  though  an  endless  array  of  close  distinctions  and  ob- 
scure exceptions  might  serve  to  keep  a  boy  at  work  and  test 
his  powers  of  endurance,  a  much  simpler  study  might  easily 
be  of  more  value  as  a  means  of  influencing  speech  and  writ- 
ing. The  process  of  simplification,  assuredly,  is  not  com- 
pleted; and  the  character  of  the  French  language  makes  it 
impossible  to  carry  the  process  as  far  as  it  might  be  carried 
in  English.  Yet  with  comparatively  few  exceptions,  French 
teachers  approve  what  has  been  done  and  express  the  belief 
that  many  other  changes  might  be  brought  about  profitably. 

A.  In  Subject-Matter 

This  simplification  is  noticeable,  first,  in  the  subject- 
matter  taught.  As  was  suggested  in  the  preceding  para- 
graph, the  emphasis  has  been  shifted.    Instead  of  devoting 


94    HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

much  time  to  exercises  in  hair-splitting  distinctions,  the 
teacher  dwells  at  great  length  upon  a  few  principles  that  are 
easily  understood  and  easily  observed  in  everyday  speech. 
The  nature  of  the  simple  proposition,  the  functions  of  words 
in  ordinary  sentences,  the  most  used  tenses  of  familiar  verbs, 
the  complete  conjugation  of  the  regular  verbs  and  some  of 
the  most  frequently  used  irregular  verbs,  and  the  sequence 
of  tenses,  —  these  are  the  matters  that  are  dwelt  upon 
throughout  the  earlier  years  of  a  pupil's  school  life.  And 
when  he  enters  upon  the  latter  half  of  his  course  —  if  he 
continues  his  work  as  far  as  the  baccalaureate  or  through 
the  higher  primary  school  —  he  is  sure  to  have,  in  addition 
to  his  more  detailed  exercises  in  syntax,  frequent  reviews  of 
what  he  has  studied  in  the  lower  grades.  After  one  has 
visited  classes  for  several  months,  and  has  seen  so  much 
time  devoted  to  these  concentrated  lessons,  it  is  easy  to 
understand  why  the  French  boy  so  rarely  makes  an  egregious 
grammatical  blunder  after  he  is  ten  or  twelve  years  of  age. 
To  be  sure,  French  grammar-teaching  was  effective  before 
the  subject  was  simplified ;  but  only  in  recent  years  has  the 
good  influence  been  stripped  of  a  large  part  of  its  dead 
weight. 

B.  In  Classroom  Exercises 

In  the  second  place,  the  simplification  has  affected  the 
processes  of  teaching.  The  emphasis  in  the  presentation  of 
the  simplified  subject-matter  has  been  centered  very  largely 
in  a  few  groups  of  comparatively  simple  exercises.  Inas- 
much as  the  purpose  seems  to  be  always  to  have  the  pupil 
become  trained  in  seeing  the  elements  of  a  normal  sentence 
without  studious  hesitation,  these  frequent  exercises  deal 
ordinarily  with  the  simpler  kind  of  structure.  The  pupil 
completes  sentences  by  supplying  omitted  parts;  he  turns 
the  plural  words  into  singulars,  or  conversely;  he  changes 


GRAMMAR  95 

the  masculine  nouns  into  feminines,  which  in  French  neces- 
sitates many  other  changes;  he  substitutes  pronouns  for 
the  nouns  not  only  in  one  sentence,  but  in  a  series  of  sen- 
tences; he  changes  the  tense  (preserving  the  correct  se- 
quence) of  the  verbs  in  a  paragraph ;  he  turns  infinitive  and 
participal  constructions  into  finite  verb  constructions;  he 
makes  declarative  sentences  interrogative,  an  exercise  which 
in  French  requires  no  little  practice;  he  turns  direct  dis- 
course into  indirect,  and  conversely;  and  he  has  almost  con- 
stant practice  in  the  simpler  kinds  of  analysis.  This  analysis 
is  well  designed  to  give  the  pupil  a  firm  hold  on  organi- 
zation and  structure.  It  is  not  expressed  by  any  scheme  of 
diagramming  —  at  least  I  did  not  see  any  such  device  used 
—  and  only  the  essential  relations  are  treated.  Usually 
when  the  teacher  or  pupil  writes  a  sentence  on  the  black- 
board, its  construction  is  indicated  in  some  such  manner  as 
follows : 

Since  the  Gauls  had  established  their  camp  beyond  the  Anio,  the 
Roman  army  departed  from  the  city  and  halted  on  this  side  of  the 
river. 

i.  Since  the  Gauls  had  established  Subordinate  proposition 

their  camp  beyond  the  Anio 

2.  the  Roman  army  departed  Principal  proposition 
from  the  city 

3.  and  halted  on  this  Principal  proposition 
side  of  the  river  (Coordinate) 

And  if  the  function  of  the  individual  words  in  the  sentence 
is  indicated  in  writing,  it  is  in  some  equally  simple  manner. 
It  is  not  difficult  to  see  that  regular  practice  in  these  fun- 
damental matters  makes  it  almost  certain  that  the  pupil 
will  be  able  to  handle  the  sentence  with  readiness  and  sure- 
ness.  He  is  exercised  not  only  in  the  so-called  mechanics  of 
language,  but  in  processes  of  thought;  and  the  result  is  re- 
flected not  merely  in  his  ability  to  see  the  structure  of  what 
he  reads,  but  in  his  power  to  visualize  what  he  himself  thinks 


96     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

C.  In  Nomenclature 

The  simplification  has  recently  been  extended  to  gram- 
matical nomenclature.  In  France,  as  in  America,  there 
was  formerly  much  confusion  in  the  nomenclature  employed 
in  textbooks.  Like  us,  the  French  teachers  sought  relief; 
but  with  more  immediate  success.  Here  is  an  instance 
where  the  close  organization  of  the  school  system  has  made 
national  reform  a  comparatively  easy  matter.  When  the 
Minister  became  convinced  that  action  in  respect  to  nomen- 
clature should  be  taken,  he  secured  through  his  professional 
advisers  and  many  of  the  best  teachers  of  the  mother  tongue 
the  most  nearly  satisfactory  scheme  possible.  Then  he 
issued  an  arrete  (July,  1910)  which  set  forth  the  terms 
adopted,  and  ordered  that  they  be  applied  in  examinations 
for  the  baccalaureate  the  year  following.  Immediately  all 
the  publishers  in  the  country  pasted  green  or  red  key-pages 
in  their  textbooks,  and  within  a  few  months  they  were 
issuing  editions  bearing  the  words:  "  Revised  according  to 
the  arrete  concerning  grammatical  nomenclature."  This 
change  has  been  generally  accepted  as  a  long  step  in  the 
direction  of  a  satisfactory  unification,  it  has  wrought  no 
great  hardship,  and  it  has  necessitated  no  sacrifice  of  individ- 
uality. Authors  of  textbooks  and  teachers  are  at  liberty 
to  resort  to  as  much  ingenuity  as  they  choose  in  treating  the 
details  of  grammar,  but  there  must  be  uniformity  of  name 
in  all  fundamental  matters.  The  arrete  has  simply  put  into 
practice  the  common  sense  that  if  a  brick  is  a  brick,  both 
Smith  and  Jones  should  call  it  that.  The  scheme,  which  we 
must  remember  was  evolved  for  the  French  language,  not 
ours,  is  printed  below. 


GRAMMAR 


97 


THE  PARTS  OF  SPEECH 


Classification  of  nouns 


THE  NOUN 

i.  Proper  nouns. 

2.   Common  nouns  (simple  or  compound). 


Number  of  nouns Singular  —  plural. 

Gender  of  nouns Masculine  —  feminine. 


Classification  of  articles 


THE   ARTICLE 

Definite  article. 
Indefinite  article. 
Partitive  article. 


Classification  of  pronouns  • 


THE  PRONOUN 

'  i.  Personal  and  reflexive. 

2.  Possessive. 

3.  Demonstrative. 

4.  Relative. 

5.  Interrogative. 

6.  Indefinite. 


Person  and  number  of  pronouns Singular  —  plural. 

Gender  of  pronouns Masculine  —  feminine  —  neuter 

Case  of  pronouns  Subject  case  —  complement  case. 

N.B.  —  By  case  is  understood  the  forms  that  certain  pronouns  take 
according  as  they  are  subject  or  complement. 


THE  ADJECTIVE 

Number Singular  —  plural. 

Gender Masculine  —  feminine. 


Classification 
of    adjectives 


1 .  Qualifying  adjectives 
(simple  and  compound) 


2.  Numeral  adjectives 


'  a.  Comparative  of  equality. 

b.  Comparative  of  superiority. 

c.  Comparative  of  inferiority. 

d.  Relative  superlative. 

e.  Absolute  superlative. 

a.  Ordinal. 

b.  Cardinal. 


Possessive  adjectives. 
Demonstrative  adjectives. 
Interrogative  adjectives. 


3- 

5- 

k  6.  Indefinite  adjectives. 


98     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 


THE   VERB 


Verbs  and  verbal  expressions. 
Number  and  person. 


Elements  of  the  verb  I 
Auxiliary  verbs 

Forms  of  the  verb   . . 


Moods  of  the  verb 


i.   Root. 

2.  Termination. 

Avoir  (to  have)  —  lire  (to  be),  etc. 

i.  Active. 

2.  Passive. 

3.  Pronominal. 


Tenses  of  the  verb  . .   ■ 


Impersonal  verbs. 

The  verbs  of  the  active 
i.  Verbs  of  the  type 

2.  Verbs  of  the  type 

3.  All  other  verbs. 


1.  Personal  moods  . . 

2.  Impersonal  moods 

1.  The  present. 

2.  The  past 


Indicative. 
Conditional. 
Imperative. 
Subjunctive. 
Infinitive. 
b.  Participle. 


3.  The  future 


a.  The  imperfect. 

b.  The  simple  past  — . 
the  compound  past. 

c.  The  past  anterior. 

d.  The  pluperfect. 

a.  Simple  future. 

b.  Future  anterior 


CONJUGATION 

form  are  ranged  in  three  groups: 

of  aimer:  the  present  in  e. 

,  .   .   f  present  in  is. 
olfinir\        ...... 

I  participle  in  tssant. 


WORDS  INVARIABLE  IN  FORM 

Adverbs  and  adverbial  expressions. 
Prepositions  and  prepositional  expressions. 
Conjunctions  and  con-  f 1.  Conjunctions  of  coordination, 
junctional    expressions!  2.  Conjunctions  of  subordination. 
Interjections. 


Terms  of  the  proposition 


Uses  of  the  noun 


GRAMMAR  99 

SYNTAX 

THE  PROPOSITION 

1.  Subject. 

2.  Verb. 

3.  Attribute. 

4.  Complement. 

1.  Subject. 

2.  Appositive. 

3.  Attribute. 

4.  Complement. 


Uses  of  the  adjective  . . .  s    '    .  ~\  .,    ' 
J  I  2.  Attribute. 


THE  COMPLEMENTS 

Nearly  all  words  may  have  complements.    They  are: 

1.  Complements  of  the  noun. 

2.  Complements  of  the  adjective. 

3.  Complements  of  the  verb:  complements  direct  and  indirect. 

CLASSIFICATION  OF  PROPOSITIONS 

i.  Independent  propositions. 

2.  Principal  propositions. 

3.  Subordinate  propositions. 

N.B.  —  Either  principal  or  subordinate  propositions  may  be  coordinate. 

Subject  proposition. 


Propositions  may  have  functions  analo- 
gous to  the  functions  of  nouns.  They 
may  be 


2.  Appositive  proposition. 

3.  Attributive  proposition. 

4.  Complementary  proposition. 


IV.  THE  CLOSE  RELATION  OF  GRAMMAR  TO  OTHER  WORK 

The  simplification  of  grammar,  important  as  it  must  be, 
is  not,  however,  the  most  essential  or  the  most  significant 
part  of  present-day  teaching  in  France.  It  is  quite  possible 
for  grammar  to  be  simple  in  every  respect,  yet  be  so  far 
removed  from  a  boy's  life  that  he  finds  no  value  in  the  sim- 
plification. In  providing  against  such  a  possible  defect,  the 
French  teacher  has  made  probably  his  greatest  contribution 
to  the  teaching  of  the  subject.     Grammar  is  not  taught  as  a 


ioo     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

thing  apart.  The  pupil  is  made  to  feel  that  the  subject  is 
vitally  related  to  his  other  studies,  to  his  writing,  to  his 
everyday  speech,  —  in  fact,  to  his  whole  intellectual  life.  In 
this  manner,  grammar  is  robbed  of  its  chief  terrors  and  is 
made  to  hold  a  very  normal  place  in  a  boy's  pursuits. 

A.  Through  the  Internal  Arrangement  of 
Class  Periods 

Evidence  of  this  close  relation  is  first  seen  in  the  internal 
arrangement  of  class  periods  devoted  to  the  mother  tongue. 
I  did  not  see  one  recitation  in  grammar  that  extended  be- 
yond fifteen  or  twenty  minutes.  It  seems  to  be  taken  for 
granted  everywhere  that  a  normal  boy  cannot  survive  a  very 
long  lesson  in  grammar.  Consequently,  he  is  led  through 
an  active,  stimulating  exercise  lasting  only  a  quarter  of  an 
hour,  and  then  his  attention  is  directed  to  something  else. 
Not  only  does  this  kind  of  lesson  prevent  grammar  itself 
from  becoming  dull,  but  it  enables  the  teacher  to  relate 
grammatical  principles  to  whatever  other  studies  in  the 
mother  tongue  he  may  take  up  for  the  remainder  of  the  hour. 
Whether  the  pupils  read  an  author,  write  a  theme,  or  criti- 
cise themes  read  to  them,  there  is  much  opportunity  for 
the  teacher  to  say,  "  There  is  an  instance  of  the  very 
thing  we  were  talking  about  ";  or  "  In  this  case,  some  other 
grammatical  construction  would  have  been  acceptable  "; 
or  "  You  see  what  that  writer  did  when  he  was  confronted 
with  that  difficulty." 

There  appears  to  be  no  rigidly  established  order  of  the 
different  parts  of  a  recitation  that  includes  grammar,  but 
from  the  notes  I  made  while  visiting  classes  it  would  seem 
that  most  teachers  have  the  lesson  in  grammar  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  hour.  This  arrangement  is  well  justified,  not 
only  because  the  pupils  are  fresh  from  a  period  of  recreation, 


GRAMMAR  101 

but  also  because  the  grammar  is  thus  related  to  the  re- 
mainder of  the  recitation  with  greater  ease  than  if  it  came 
after  the  reading  or  composition.  Perhaps  I  ought  to  ex- 
plain that  the  meeting-points  do  not  necessarily  grow  out  of 
premeditation;  the  teacher's  comments  in  many  cases  are 
only  the  thought  of  the  moment.  But  the  simple  fact  that 
he  is  provided  with  an  opportunity  to  point  out  examples  of 
grammatical  principles  so  recently  discussed  makes  such  a 
division  of  the  hour  seem  much  more  fruitful  than  a  full  hour 
of  grammar  once  a  week.  The  following  plans  of  an  hour's 
recitation  are  typical : l 

(i)  (a)  The  grammatical  analysis  (for  verbs)  of  about  twenty  lines 
of  good  French  prose. 

(&)  The  reading  of  one  of  Prudhomme's  poems.  In  the  dis- 
cussion of  the  literary  qualities  of  this  poem,  the  teacher 
explained  two  grammatical  problems. 

(c)  The  reading  of  a  pleasant  story  by  the  teacher,  —  an 
exercise  which  the  pupils  enjoyed  thoroughly. 

(2)  (a)   The  study  of  a  poem  assigned  two  days  before. 

(b)  A  lesson  in  grammar  on  the  agreement  of  the  pronoun  and 
past  participle. 

(c)  The  preliminary  explanation  of  the  reading  lesson  that  is 
to  be  studied  in  class  a  day  or  two  later. 

(3)  (a)   The  grammatical  analysis  of  ten  lines  of  prose. 

(&)    The  recitation,  from  memory,  of  one  of  La  Fontaine's 

Fables. 
(c)    The  reading  and  criticising  of  written  exercises  that  the 

teacher  had  graded. 

(4)  (a)    A  short  lesson  in  the  textbook  on  grammar;  then  the  study 

of  two  or  three  sentences  that  presented  characteristic 
difficulties. 

(b)  The  recitation  of  Andre  Chenier's  La  Jeune  Captive. 

(c)  The  reading  and  study  of  two  selections  in  prose  that  dealt 
with  the  same  period  of  the  Revolution. 

1  Printed  as  I  recorded  them  in  notes  made  in  the  classroom. 


102     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

B.  Through  Oral  Exercises 

The  lessons  in  grammar  are  brought  close  to  a  boy's  life, 
too,  by  the  fact  that  they  are  almost  exclusively  oral.  The 
teacher  sometimes  records  in  detail  on  the  blackboard  the 
recitation  the  pupils  make,  but  the  pupils  themselves  rarely 
ever  write;  they  must  define,  discuss,  and  analyze  orally. 
A  number  of  reasons  are  offered  for  this  practice.  One  is 
that  it  enables  the  class  to  cover  more  ground  than  would  be 
possible  if  the  recitation  were  written.  Another  is  that  a 
pupil  ought  to  think  more  rapidly  in  analyzing  sentences 
than  he  possibly  can  do  in  writing  out  the  analysis.  Still 
another  is  that  since  a  pupil  normally  speaks  so  much  more 
than  he  writes,  most  of  the  practice  should  be  in  speaking. 
But  the  greatest  reason  seems  to  be  that  an  oral  recitation  is 
full  of  activity.  In  every  subject  taught  in  the  elementary 
schools,  activity  is  constantly  encouraged.  Teachers  try 
to  make  a  pupil's  knowledge  an  inseparable  part  of  him- 
self. And  in  the  study  of  grammar  this  theory  seems  to 
be  put  into  practice  with  more  than  usual  effect.  When  the 
boy  is  alert  and  closely  intent  on  the  matter  in  hand,  all 
impressions  are  sure  to  be  deeper  and  consequently  more 
permanent  than  if  he  were  laboriously  writing  out  relations 
which  he  can  see  in  an  instant  but  which  he  must  hold 
in  mind  while  he  writes  out  an  entire  sentence,  or  even 
two  or  three.  In  speaking  or  in  writing  down  one's  thoughts, 
one  must  feel  grammatical  relations  immediately.  There 
must  be  no  delay  to  annoy  a  hearer  or  to  permit  the  evasive 
spirit  of  thought  to  steal  from  the  writer's  mind.  The 
grammar  must  be  a  part  of  the  thought  itself.  To  bring  a 
pupil  into  such  a  condition  of  mind  requires  just  the  kind  of 
instantaneous  thinking  that  he  is  obliged  to  do  in  well- 
planned  exercises  that  are  almost  exclusively  oral. 


GRAMMAR  103 

C.  Through  the  Use  of  Complete  Passages 
of  Prose 

The  grammar  lesson  itself  is  usually  based  upon  some 
more  or  less  complete  passage  of  prose  that  is  drawn  from 
the  boy's  reading.  He  is  not,  then,  tempted  to  believe  that 
grammar  is  something  that  has  to  do  only  with  special  sen- 
tences chosen  to  fit  into  a  textbook.  He  sees  that  a  passage 
which  has  interest  and  charm  as  literature  is  at  the  same 
time  subject  to  grammatical  laws,  and  often  cannot  be  com- 
pletely comprehended  without  the  application  of  these  laws. 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  the  passage  intended  for  the 
grammar  lesson  proper  must  be  selected  with  care.  It  is 
not  full  of  technical  difficulties  that  might  draw  a  pupil 
away  from  the  real  center  of  the  lesson;  and  it  is  chosen  for 
the  immediate  appeal  that  the  subject-matter  ought  to 
make.  Here,  as  in  the  giving  of  dictations,  the  first  duty 
of  the  teacher  is  to  ascertain  that  the  pupils  compre- 
hend. He  reads  the  passage  for  a  given  lesson,  explains  it 
fully,  and  helps  every  boy  not  only  to  understand  but  to 
appreciate.  Let  me  give  an  example.  In  a  typical  reci- 
tation that  I  visited,  the  teacher  wrote  on  the  blackboard 
during  intermission  the  following  passage  from  Daudet: 

Poor  Man! 

It  was  in  honor  of  this  last  recitation  that  he  had  put  on  his  good 
Sunday  clothes.  And  now  I  understood  why  those  old  people  from 
the  village  were  sitting  there  at  the  end  of  the  room.  It  all  seemed 
to  say  that  they  were  sorry  not  to  have  come  oftener  to  this  school. 
It  was  also  a  way  of  thanking  the  teacher  for  his  forty  years  of  good 
service,  and  of  showing  their  respect  for  the  fatherland  which  was 
slipping  away.1 

When  the  class  —  a  class  of  nine-year-old  boys  —  were  in 
their  seats  ready  for  the  recitation,  the  teacher  read  the 

1  Translated  from  La  derniere  classe. 


104     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

paragraph  through.  Then  he  called  upon  several  boys  in 
turn  to  read.  Inasmuch  as  the  class  had  been  reading 
Daudet  in  some  of  their  lessons,  they  were  immediately 
interested  in  this  passage,  and  the  boys  who  read  aloud 
showed  by  the  intelligence  and  spirit  of  their  reading  that 
they  understood  and  enjoyed  all  the  writer  said.  Next  the 
teacher  called  upon  several  boys  to  explain  the  least  familiar 
words,  so  that  no  one  in  the  class  might  have  only  a  vague 
or  indefinite  understanding  of  the  paragraph.  In  every 
instance  he  insisted  that  the  definition  be  complete  and 
exact.  After  this  preliminary  study,  the  teacher  took  up 
the  lesson  in  grammar.  To  begin  with,  he  called  for  all  the 
nouns  in  the  paragraph.  This,  of  course,  for  boys  who  had 
already  received  instruction  in  grammar,  even  though  they 
were  only  nine  years  old,  was  an  easy  task.  Then  he  called 
for  the  adjectives,  and  as  the  boys  indicated  them,  he  under- 
scored them  on  the  blackboard.  Finally,  he  and  the  pupils 
talked  simply  and  familiarly  about  the  verbs  and  the  sub- 
jects of  the  sentences.  It  was  not  difficult  to  see  that  the 
pupils  understood,  and  that  they  understood  in  terms  of 
grammar.  Yet  in  the  entire  twenty  minutes  of  recita- 
tion —  the  rest  of  the  hour  was  devoted  to  dictation  and 
reading  —  there  was  not  the  slightest  suggestion  of  over- 
technical  phraseology  or  disagreeable  abstractions;  there 
was  nothing  to  lead  the  pupil  to  believe  that  grammar  was 
a  thing  apart. 

To  be  sure,  exercises  of  this  kind  vary  according  to  the  age 
of  the  pupils,  the  teacher's  preferences,  the  character  of  the 
particular  passage  chosen  for  study,  and  the  nature  of  the 
work  that  is  to  occupy  the  class  during  the  remainder  of 
the  hour.  Sometimes,  too,  the  teacher  modifies  or  withholds 
some  part  of  the  text  so  that  the  purpose  of  the  lesson  may 
stand  out  clearly.     For  example,  when  one  teacher  dictated 


GRAMMAR  105 

a  passage  from  a  translation  of  Franklin's  Autobiography,1 

he  gave  the  pupils  only  the  infinitive  form  of  the  verbs,  and 

then  asked  them  to  study  and  master,  as  a  part  of  their  next 

day's  lesson,  certain  tenses  in  the  conjugation  of  these  verbs. 

The  original  text  will  serve  to  show  the  chief  purpose  of  this 

assignment: 

There  was  a  salt-marsh  that  bounded  part  of  the  millpond,  on  the 
edge  of  which,  at  high  water,  we  used  to  stand  and  fish  for  minnows. 
By  much  trampling,  we  had  made  it  a  mere  quagmire.  My  proposal 
was  to  build  a  wharf  there  fit  for  us  to  stand  upon,  and  I  showed  my 
comrades  a  large  heap  of  stones,  which  were  intended  for  a  new  house 
near  the  marsh,  and  which  would  very  well  suit  our  purpose.  Accord- 
ingly, in  the  evening,  when  the  workmen  were  gone,  I  assembled  a 
number  of  my  playfellows,  and  working  with  them  diligently  like  so 
many  emmets,  sometimes  two  or  three  to  a  stone,  we  brought  them  all 
away  and  built  our  little  wharf.  The  next  morning  the  workmen  were 
surprised  at  missing  the  stones,  which  were  found  in  our  wharf. 
Inquiry  was  made  after  the  removers;  we  were  discovered  and  com- 
plained of;  several  of  us  were  corrected  by  our  fathers;  and  though  I 
pleaded  the  usefulness  of  the  work,  mine  convinced  me  that  nothing  was 
useful  which  was  not  honest. 

But  it  mattered  not  how  a  passage  was  treated  in  a  given 
instance,  it  was  always  put  into  its  original  form  before  the 
end  of  the  lesson.  There  was  no  effort  to  revise  literature 
simply  "  to  make  it  parse."  The  pupils  were  always  re- 
minded that,  after  all,  they  were  dealing  with  a  piece  of  good 
literature  and  not  a  cut-to-order  grammar  lesson. 

One  objection  might  be  made  to  this  method;  namely, 
that  it  injures  or  kills  the  boy's  interest  in  literature. 
We  have  heard  much  in  recent  years  about  the  criminal 
conduct  of  the  teacher  who  dares  to  discuss  the  so-called 
mechanics  of  a  good  piece  of  prose;  we  are  told  that  to  talk 
about  the  grammar  of  a  passage  from  Stevenson  or  Ruskin 
or  Newman  is  "  literary  murder."  But  why  ?  Does  the 
artist,  even  the  least  effective  artist,  see  less  in  the  great 

1  Franklin's  Autobiography  is  widely  used  in  the  French  schools. 


106     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

picture  because  he  knows  technique  and  structure,  and 
speaks  in  terms  of  his  art  ?  Does  the  playwright  or  the 
architect  see  less  in  the  play  or  the  public  building  because 
he  has  found  it  possible  to  "  reconcile  technique  with 
emotion  "  ?  Neither  reason  nor  experience  can  give  an 
affirmative  reply.  In  truth,  the  French  teacher  seems  to 
increase  the  boy's  interest  distinctly  by  helping  him  to  see 
the  structure  of  what  he  reads.  And  why  should  he  not  ? 
Perhaps  everyone  who  reads  this  paragraph  knows  of 
teachers  who  spend  long  months  in  saying  that  the  structure 
or  the  language  of  a  piece  is  beautiful,  and  contributes, 
therefore,  to  the  beauty  of  the  subject-matter,  yet  who  do 
not  help  a  pupil  to  enough  knowledge  of  language  to  enable 
him  to  distinguish  one  kind  of  effect  from  another.  He 
does  not  know  that  the  infinitive  construction  is  character- 
istically loose,  for  example,  because  he  does  not  recognize  an 
infinitive  construction  when  he  sees  it;  he  does  not  note  the 
effects  of  grammatical  inversion  because  —  sad  to  relate  — 
he  cannot  tell  whether  a  sentence  is  inverted  or  not.  Gram- 
mar, it  must  be  admitted,  may,  like  other  sciences,  be  so 
poorly  taught  that  everything  it  touches  will  be  blighted. 
But,  on  the  other  hand,  if  the  subject-matter  is  in  itself 
interesting,  and  if  the  teacher  uses  good  judgment  in 
stopping  short  of  overminute  distinctions,  a  pupil's  knowl- 
edge of  the  structure  of  a  passage  must  inevitably  contribute 
to  a  more  intelligent  appreciation. 

D.  Through  Emphasis  on  the  Sentence 

The  relation  of  the  grammar  lesson  to  the  boy's  reading 
and  speaking  is  made  firmer  by  the  fact  that  in  all  the  exer- 
cises beyond  the  very  first  ones  in  the  beginning  classes,  the 
sentence,  rather  than  any  smaller  element,  is  the  unit  of 
study.      The  parts  of  speech  are  not  neglected,  but  the 


GRAMMAR  107 

emphasis  is  so  unmistakably  fixed  on  the  sentence  that  the 
pupil  is  in  little  danger  of  regarding  the  parts  of  speech  as 
anything  more  than  "  parts."  In  analysis,  which  includes 
what  we  call  parsing,  the  exercises  are  so  shorn  of  unneces- 
sary searching  for  fine  distinctions,  and  in  other  respects  are 
so  simplified,  that  the  importance  of  the  sentence  as  a  unit 
is  sure  to  stand  out  predominantly.  And  even  in  the  study 
of  conjugations,  the  sentence  seems  always  to  be  kept  in  the 
forefront.     Pupils  almost  invariably  recited : 

We  have  our  umbrellas  under  our  arms. 
You  have  your  umbrellas  under  your  arms. 
They  have  their  umbrellas  under  their  arms. 

Or  they  employed  a  compound  sentence: 

We  saw  the  danger  and  warned  our  brother.1 
You  saw  the  danger  and  warned  your  brother. 
They  saw  the  danger  and  warned  their  brother. 

This  kind  of  conjugation,  it  might  be  said  in  passing,  is 
regularly  employed,  too,  in  the  classes  in  English.  It  must 
account  in  no  small  measure  for  the  French  boy's  ability  to 
use  such  English  verbs  as  sit  and  set  and  lie  and.  lay  with  sur- 
prising accuracy.  In  any  event,  it  contributes  to  his  feeling 
that  in  all  language  study  the  sentence  is  the  grammatical 
unit  of  greatest  importance. 

V.  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  INDUCTIVE  METHOD 

The  dominant  purpose  in  teaching  grammar,  that  is,  to 
give  it  permanent,  practical  value  for  the  pupil  in  all  his 
language  study  and  in  his  speech  and  writing,  is  partly  the 
result  but  chiefly  the  cause  of  one  pronounced  tendency  in 
classroom  method.  From  what  we  may  have  heard  of  the 
characteristics  of  the  French  education  of  three  or  four 
decades  ago,  or  from  current  notions  of  the  importance  of 

1  The  English,  of  course,  does  not  show  the  verb  changes  of  the  French. 


108     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

such  a  body  as  the  French  Academy,  it  might  be  inferred 
that  the  teaching  of  a  subject  like  grammar  would  be  by 
means  of  ironclad  rule.  Such,  however,  is  not  the  case. 
Everywhere  there  is  a  tendency  to  get  farther  and  farther 
away  from  the  arbitrary  and  take  what  we  in  America  have 
chosen  to  call  the  "  scientific  attitude."  The  study  of  the 
mother  tongue,  it  is  maintained,  should  be  in  very  large 
part  the  observation  of  language  phenomena.  Thus  the 
inductive  method  has  grown  steadily  into  the  teaching  of 
grammar,  and  at  present  there  is  much  discussion  of  the  ad- 
visability of  extending  it  still  farther.  The  extreme  position 
of  a  method  that  is  wholly  inductive  is  maintained  by  some 
teachers,  notably  Professor  Brunot,  of  the  Sorbonne.  He 
sums  up  his  argument  in  the  following  words:  "  Language 
is  a  social  fact:  like  all  social  phenomena,  it  is  the  product  of 
the  past.  .  .  .  Language  is  not  a  deliberate,  premeditated 
creation:  grammar  is  not  a  form  of  logic  but  a  science  of 
observation,  which  ought  to  spring  from  inductions  and 
not  deductions." l  On  account  of  Professor  Brunot's 
scholarship,  and  the  fact  that  he  is  one  of  the  authors  of  a 
well-known  series  of  textbooks  for  schools,2  his  expression  of 
belief  has  received  serious  consideration;  and  his  views 
have  contributed  materially  to  the  progress  of  induction. 

It  seems  to  be  more  generally  believed,  however,  that 
though  the  inductive  method  is  the  only  acceptable  method 
in  language  investigation  and  the  establishment  of  the  laws 
of  grammar,  it  is  not  practicable  in  the  classroom  when 
adopted  in  its  entirety.  To  begin  with,  it  is  regarded  as  too 
unwieldy.  Again,  it  consumes  entirely  too  much  time.  If 
a  pupil  is  to  follow  the  direction  of  his  teacher  in  making  one 

1  V Enseignement  de  la  Langue  franqaise,  pp.  51  f. 

2  Brunot  et  Bony,  Methode  de  Langue  franqaise.  Librairie  Armand 
Colin. 


GRAMMAR  109 

observation,  then  another,  and  another,  until  he  finally 
arrives  at  a  conclusion  or  principle,  he  must  of  necessity 
leave  many  important  grammatical  questions  untouched 
simply  because  he  has  not  time  enough.  Then  a  third 
objection  is  offered.  It  is  maintained  that  the  purely  in- 
ductive method  is  unnecessary;  that  a  modified  form  is 
really  more  effective  in  the  practical  work  of  the  recitation. 
The  value  of  induction  is  not  underestimated,  but  accord- 
ing to  those  who  hold  this  last  view  —  and  they  are  many  — 
it  should  be  used  only  to  keep  the  pupil  aware  that  the 
principles  he  studies  are  based  on  real  usage;  that  is,  in- 
duction should  be  employed  in  combination  with  deduction. 
Thus  it  comes  about  that  one  sees  in  the  schools  a  certain 
amount  of  textbook  study  combined  with  a  greater  amount 
of  direct  observation  of  the  language  as  it  is  used;  and  that 
in  a  given  classroom  when  the  teacher  is  trying  to  fix  a 
definition  or  a  principle  in  the  pupil's  mind,  he  begins  with 
an  example,  next  explains  the  definition,  and  then  concludes 
with  another  example.1  In  this  manner  the  boy  is  made  to 
see  the  justification  of  the  definition  or  principle,  and  the 
teacher  saves  much  of  the  time  that  the  purely  inductive 
method  would  consume. 

All  in  all,  the  influence  of  the  inductive  method  has 
served  to  relate  grammatical  study  to  the  pupil's  entire  life. 
Moreover,  it  has  clarified  and  rendered  intelligent,  in  a 
score  of  different  ways,  the  attitude  of  teacher  and  pupil 
toward  grammatical  problems.  The  observation  of  lan- 
guage phenomena  has  led  the  teacher  to  see  that  he  must 
not  be  dogmatic  in  questions  of  disputed  usage.  It  has  led 
him,  too,  to  take  an  intelligent  view  of  exceptions.  His 
pupils,  as  a  result,  come  to  understand  the  relation  of  ex- 
ceptions to  rules  in  a  living  language.      They  see  that  the 

1  This  method  is  prescribed  for  secondary  schools.    See  Instructions,  p.  72. 


no  HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

rules  are  not  instruments  of  torture,  but  conveniences  that 
have  been  derived  from  language  as  it  lives  and  grows.  The 
teacher  finds,  too,  that  emphasis  should  be  placed  upon  the 
observation  of  idioms.  One  of  the  most  interesting  classes 
I  visited  was  that  of  a  teacher  who  was  explaining  to  boys 
of  ten  or  eleven  in  the  most  illuminating  manner  that  some 
of  the  expressions  in  the  lesson  could  not  be  taken  apart  in 
the  process  of  analysis,  but  that  they  must  be  considered  as 
little  units  in  themselves.  Then  he  showed  that  every  lan- 
guage has  its  own  peculiar  turns  of  phrase,  and  gave  some 
good  examples  of  Gallicisms,  Anglicisms,  and  Latinisms. 
I  saw  many  recitations  in  which  similar  explanations  were 
made.  In  many  ways,  then,  the  pupils  of  the  present  gen- 
eration in  France  have  profited  by  the  inductive  method. 
Their  attitude  toward  living  language  is  distinctly  more  in- 
telligent and  more  tolerant. 

VI.  HISTORICAL  GRAMMAR 

The  instruction  in  the  grammar  of  present-day  usage 
continues  regularly  until  the  boy  is  thirteen,  fourteen,  or 
fifteen  years  of  age.  He  then  has  regular  reviews  in  the 
subject  until  he  leaves  the  lycee  or  the  higher  primary  school 
at  the  age  of  seventeen  or  eighteen.  In  addition  to  all  this 
work,  the  pupil  receives  instruction  in  the  field  of  historical 
grammar.     The  directions  of  the  Minister  read : 

"  In  the  course  of  this  review,  he  [the  teacher]  will  com- 
pare the  syntax  of  present-day  French  with  that  of  the 
seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries.  On  this  point  it 
would  be  well  to  recall  the  words  of  the  programme  of 
studies :  '  The  teacher  will  give,  during  the  reading  of  the 
texts,  such  elements  of  historical  grammar  as  may  seem 
necessary.  These  elements  are  not  to  constitute  the 
material  of  a  regular  course,  and  are  to  be  given  only  in  so 


GRAMMAR  in 

far  as  they  contribute  to  a  more  intelligent  understanding 
of  the  present-day  usage  of  the  language.'"  * 

These  directions  indicate  with  reasonable  accuracy  the 
scope  of  this  work  and  the  method  employed  in  the  class- 
room. It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  instruction  does 
not  constitute  a  course  in  itself,  yet  it  must  not  be  under- 
stood that  the  demands  on  the  teacher  are  slight.  In  fact, 
he  must  have  a  sounder  training,  more  abundant  pedagogi- 
cal skill,  and  a  more  discriminating  sense  of  fitness  than  if 
he  were  giving  a  fixed  course;  for  he  must  make  his  obser- 
vations and  his  explanations  so  opportune  that  the  pupil 
will  immediately  feel  their  relevancy  and  force.  The  read- 
ing of  Moliere,  Racine,  or  even  La  Fontaine  is  certain  to 
bring  up  questions  that  will  require  the  explanation  of  a  great 
variety  of  grammatical  changes  that  have  taken  place  be- 
tween the  time  of  the  author  under  consideration  and  the 
present.  Perhaps  it  will  seem  advisable,  moreover,  to  look 
backward  as  well  as  forward  from  that  time.  Then  the 
simple  question  that  some  boy  asks  about  an  accent  over  a 
letter  in  a  word  is  sufficient  reason  for  explaining  how  it 
came  to  be  there  and  over  many  other  letters  that  represent 
the  same  changes.  To  judge  whether  the  explanation  that 
a  given  case  of  this  kind  demands  should  be  offered  in  a 
sentence  or  in  a  five  or  ten  minute  discussion  requires  not 
only  scholarship  but  "pedagogical  sense." 

It  scarcely  need  be  said  that  the  instruction  is  elementary 
in  character.  Boys  of  fourteen,  fifteen,  or  sixteen,  even  if 
they  have  had  good  training  in  the  grammar  of  present-day 
usage,  do  not  go  very  deeply  into  historical  grammar.  In 
America,  where  historical  grammar  is  usually  associated 
with  the  graduate  school  of  the  university,  we  are  likely  to 
think  it  quite  impossible  for  mere  schoolboys  to  pursue  its 

1  Instructions,  p.  77. 


H2    HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

study  with  any  degree  of  profit  whatever.  And  it  must  be 
admitted  that  the  young  boy  cannot  go  far.  Yet,  when  one 
visits  a  large  number  of  classrooms  where  instruction  of  this 
kind  is  given,  one  cannot  fail  to  see  that  the  pupils  are  really 
gaining  knowledge  that  is  of  considerable  importance.  By 
the  time  a  boy  leaves  the  lycee  he  has  learned  something  of 
the  life  of  words,  of  roots,  of  affixes,  of  radicals,  of  tonic 
accent,  of  simple  words,  of  derived  words,  of  compound 
words;  he  has  become  acquainted  with  the  linguistic  sig- 
nificance of  the  Roman  invasion,  and  he  has  had  an  oppor- 
tunity to  see  how  doublets  have  come  into  the  language ;  he 
has  discovered  some  of  the  distinguishing  marks  of  popular 
and  learned  origins ;  he  has  gained  at  least  some  information 
about  the  dialects  in  the  older  French;  he  has  observed  the 
changes  that  the  pronouns  have  undergone  since  the  days 
when  Latin  was  a  spoken  language;  he  has  observed  the 
importance  of  the  auxiliaries  and  the  conditional  in  French; 
and  he  has  been  asked  to  note  scores  of  changes  —  perhaps 
each  slight  in  itself  —  that  have  taken  place  within  the 
past  two  centuries.1 

The  value  of  the  study  can  scarcely  be  doubted.  First 
of  all,  it  gives  the  pupil  a  language  background.  He  has 
some  knowledge  of  the  past;  and  if  the  study  has  served 
only  to  acquaint  him  with  the  fact  that  there  has  been  a 
past  in  language,  his  time  has  been  well  spent.  But  there 
are  other  and  greater  values.  It  gives  him  a  just  notion  of 
the  nature  of  language.  After  he  has  received  some  in- 
struction of  this  kind,  he  cannot  look  upon  language  as  a 
thing  that  is  fixed  and  unchangeable.  He  sees,  on  every 
hand,  that  changes  have  taken  place  and  are  always  taking 
place.    Thus  for  him,  grammar  is  no  longer  a  collection  of 

1  Some  of  the  textbooks  on  present-day  grammar  include  brief  accounts 
of  the  growth  of  the  language. 


GRAMMAR  113 

dogmatic  rules,  but  a  body  of  principles  and  practices  that 
may  appeal  to  common  sense.  Furthermore,  a  great  many 
matters  that,  perchance,  have  perplexed  him  from  his 
earliest  youth  are  now  made  clear.  And  finally,  the  study 
arouses  a  healthy  curiosity  about  language  problems. 
Pupils  come  to  see  that  the  history  of  a  language  may  be 
almost  as  interesting  as  the  history  of  the  people  with  whose 
life  it  is  closely  interwoven.  Thus  they  are  led  to  observe; 
and  as  they  observe,  the  grammar  of  everyday  speech  be- 
comes more  interesting  and  more  obviously  worth  while. 


CHAPTER  V 

READING  AND  LITERATURE 

A  further  explanation  of  the  French  boy's  ability  to  write 
is  to  be  found  in  the  kind  of  material  he  reads  and  the 
manner  in  which  reading  is  done.  It  is  not  my  purpose  to 
take  up  all  the  influences  that  reading  may  have  on  one's 
style;  they  may  be  many  or  few.  Neither  do  I  wish  to 
enter  into  a  discussion  of  the  subtle  questions  of  pedagogy 
that  trouble  the  primary  teacher.  I  shall  endeavor,  in- 
stead, to  point  out  some  of  the  large  characteristics  of 
French  method  and  show  how  these  are  meant  to  increase 
the  boy's  power  of  expression.  We  shall  see  what  he  reads, 
how  he  reads,  and  the  condition  of  mind  in  which  his  read- 
ing and  other  exercises  based  on  literature  must  almost  in- 
evitably leave  him. 

I.  WHAT  THE  PUPIL  READS 

From  the  very  first  years  of  a  boy's  school  life,  the  ma- 
terial he  reads  is  of  sound  literary  merit.  The  books  of 
selections  —  not  "readers"  in  our  sense  of  the  word  — 
include  the  chief  names  in  French  literature,  as  well  as  a 
great  many  other  authors  that  are  at  least  favorably  known. 
Every  boy  of  nine  or  ten  has  read  something  from  Daudet; 
and  although  his  writings  are  extremely  interesting  to 
adults,  the  boy  appreciates  him  genuinely.  Then  every 
pupil  reads  Victor  Hugo,  who  in  France  is  known  as  a  poet 
rather  than  a  prose  writer,  and  he  becomes  acquainted  with 
La  Bruyere,  Boileau,  Chateaubriand,  Joseph  de  Maistre, 
Lamartine,  Michelet,  Leconte  de  Lisle,  Andre  Theuriet, 
Flaubert,    Vigny,    Franklin    (in    translation),    and    such 


READING  AND  LITERATURE  115 

present-day  writers  as  Pierre  Loti  and  Charles  Wagner. 
Above  all,  he  lives  in  the  atmosphere  of  La  Fontaine,  whose 
Fables  are  exceptionally  well  designed  for  reading  material, 
since  they  express  in  admirable  form  a  kind  of  subject- 
matter  that  makes  a  strong  appeal  to  boys  of  nine,  ten, 
eleven,  or  twelve.  In  these  authors,  together  with  the  many 
others  that  are  drawn  upon,  may  be  found  all  the  variety 
that  the  youthful  mind  demands. 

The  argument  in  favor  of  early  readings  from  "  good 
literature  "  is  twofold.  It  is  pointed  out,  first,  that  the 
practice  saves  the  boy  many  months  of  valuable  time  in  his 
school  career.  Why  should  he  spend  a  considerable  part  of 
the  best  period  of  his  life  in  learning  to  read  by  means  of 
made-to-order  lessons,  when  he  might  as  easily,  or  more 
easily,  learn  by  reading  something  of  permanent  value? 
Secondly,  this  good  literature  may  be  just  as  easy  to  under- 
stand as  pieces  that  have  been  specially  prepared  for  the 
reading-book.  In  truth,  comprehension  is  frequently  aided 
in  large  measure  by  the  simplicity  of  structure  and  the  artis- 
tic perfection  that  characterizes  the  best  writing.  It  follows, 
then,  that  the  pupil  not  only  gains  in  time,  but  derives  a 
greater  pleasure,  and  a  deeper,  more  abiding  satisfaction 
than  he  could  possibly  derive  from  something  childishly 
mediocre  or  intellectually  cheap. 

To  the  American  teacher,  another  great  advantage  in  this 
early  reading  of  good  authors  should  be  evident.  The 
French  boy  does  not  come  to  the  time  when  he  puts  aside 
light  reading  and  takes  up  the  study  of  College  Entrance 
Requirements  or  books  that  are  labeled  with  some  other 
formidable  name.  He  is  not  brought  to  look  upon  the  study 
of  literature  as  something  new  and  strange  —  as  so  much 
new  ground  to  cover  —  for  after  he  has  once  entered  upon 
his  school  career  he  never  arrives  at  the  place  where  he 


n6    HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

"begins  to  study  literature."  In  the  later  years  of  his 
course,  when  he  studies  essays,  fiction,  drama,  and  poetry, 
he  is  only  doing  on  a  larger  scale  what  he  has  done  more  or 
less  perfectly  since  he  first  learned  to  read.  The  advanced 
books  of  selections  that  are  obligatory  in  the  upper  grades 
are  drawn  in  large  part  from  the  authors  included  in  the 
more  elementary  books.  The  difference  is  only  in  the 
degree  of  maturity  required  in  the  pupil;  the  general  char- 
acter of  the  material  is  the  same.  And  because  it  is  the 
same,  the  pupil  is  prevented  from  experiencing  any  "transi- 
tion" into  a  wholly  new  kind  of  literary  study. 

One  question  may  very  naturally  arise:  Is  this  reading- 
matter  always  morally  wholesome  in  tone?  Current 
American  notions  of  French  literature  make  it  easy  for  one 
to  imagine  that  French  boys  and  girls  might  be  asked  to 
occupy  themselves  with  material  that  is  either  characterless 
or  positively  sordid.  But  all  in  all,  I  believe  the  French 
teacher's  conscience  is  just  as  sensitive  in  this  respect  as  the 
American  teacher's.1  It  is  true  that  we  sometimes  point 
with  disgust  to  a  certain  kind  of  vicious  literary  "art"  that 
is  called  French;  but  it  is  just  as  true  that  French  men  and 
women  of  the  better  sort  find  it  equally  repulsive.  It 
should  be  borne  in  mind,  moreover,  that  the  French  people 
as  a  race  seem  to  hold  steadfastly  to  the  belief  that  a  piece 
of  literature  may  be  quite  harmless  or  even  severely  moral 
for  adults,  yet  wholly  pernicious  and  immoral  for  young 
boys  and  girls.      It  has  sometimes  seemed  to  me  that  this 

1  He  is,  moreover,  becoming  interested  in  American  literature.  Every- 
where I  went  I  asked  teachers,  pupils,  and  other  persons  what  American 
authors  they  knew.  Longfellow,  Poe,  and  Emerson  were  the  favorites. 
Some  mentioned  Hawthorne  and  Whitman,  and  schoolboys  frequently  spoke 
of  Cooper  and  Franklin.  Many  mature  men  mentioned  William  James 
with  the  deepest  respect;  and  one  aged  student  of  philosophy  went  so  far 
as  to  declare  him  the  most  important  writer  of  the  nineteenth  century. 


READING  AND  LITERATURE  117 

attitude  served  as  a  pretext  for  the  production  of  an  abun- 
dance of  literary  filth.  But  the  fact  remains  that  the 
young  are  protected  from  unwholesome  reading  in  the 
schools.  There  is  much  in  French  literature  that  is  clean, 
much  that  is  intensely  patriotic,  much  that  is  full  of  inspi- 
ration for  youth;  and  it  is  upon  readings  of  some  of  these 
kinds  that  the  schoolboy  is  brought  up. 

The  literary  excellence  of  the  young  boy's  reading  ex- 
tends to  what  he  reads  outside  of  school  hours,  although  the 
degree  to  which  he  profits  over  the  American  boy  in  this 
respect  is  scarcely  open  to  demonstration.  He  is  busier  in 
school  than  the  American  boy  because  of  the  greater  number 
of  school  hours  a  week,  and  he  has  not,  therefore,  so  much 
occasion  to  go  outside  the  field  of  school  reading  for  mental 
occupation.  Furthermore,  the  fact  that  his  parents  in  their 
youth  read  good  literature  and  that  he  himself  has  read 
nothing  else  in  school  is  almost  certain  to  have  influenced 
his  taste  to  some  degree;  so  that,  all  in  all,  he  is  less  likely 
to  be  hungering  after  the  cheap  and  the  tawdry.  Then, 
too,  many  of  the  plays  that  are  presented  in  the  theatres 
emphasize  the  importance  of  high  literary  standards. 
Through  all  the  dramatic  fashions  of  the  past  two  or  three 
decades,  some  of  the  French  theatres  have  continued  to 
give  a  number  of  classic  plays  every  month.  And  at  such 
a  theatre  as  the  Odeon  l  in  Paris,  which  is  subsidized  by 
the  government,  one  may,  especially  by  subscribing  to  an 
agency,  secure  certain  good  seats  at  relatively  low  prices. 

1  Between  igo6  and  1914,  two  hundred  and  thirty  different  plays  were 
presented  at  the  Odeon.  Although  some  of  these  were  only  what  might  be 
called  good  drama,  a  large  per  cent  of  them  were  classics.  More  new  plays 
are  presented  now  than  formerly,  but  the  classics  still  hold  large  place. 
For  a  study  of  the  plays  presented  at  the  Comedie-Francaise  from  1840  to 
1902,  see  pp.  3  ff.  of  L' Enseignement  du  franqais,  by  Lanson  and  others. 
1909.    Imprimerie  Nationals. 


n8     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

Sometimes,  too,  the  play  that  is  given  on  the  afternoon  of 
Thursday  —  the  school  holiday  in  France  —  is  preceded  by 
a  lecture  on  the  play  and  the  author.  Teachers  lament 
that  the  theatre  is  less  influential  in  support  of  French 
literature  than  it  was  formerly;  but  a  certain  type  of 
theatre  must  still  be  included  with  home  reading  as  one 
of  the  "  outside  "  forces  contributing  to  literary  taste. 

It  may  be  said,  then,  that  the  whole  influence  of  what  the 
boy  reads  in  school  and  much  that  he  reads  outside,  espe- 
cially at  home,  is  toward  better  expression  on  his  own  part. 
He  is,  of  course,  all  this  while  subject  to  the  influences  of  the 
street,  the  cheap  newspaper,  and  the  third-class  theatre; 
but  these  influences  are  not  permitted  to  remain  operative 
to  the  exclusion  of  every  other.  His  reading  makes  it 
obligatory  that  he  live  a  part  of  the  time  in  an  atmosphere 
that  counteracts  the  effect  of  the  incorrect,  the  careless,  or 
the  vicious  language  of  those  whose  lives,  through  bad  for- 
tune, touch  his  intimately. 

II.  HOW  THE  PUPIL  READS 

French  recitations  in  reading,  whatever  one  may  say 
about  this  or  that  individual  device,  are  remarkable  because 
of  the  alertness  of  mind  they  cultivate.  Activity  is  their 
essential  characteristic.  The  pupil,  it  is  maintained,  must 
profit  chiefly  by  catching  the  full  meaning  of  an  assignment, 
by  seeing  below  the  surface,  by  reflecting  upon  the  beauty 
or  the  strength  that  may  not  be  evident  at  first  to  his  im- 
mature, restless  mind.  He  must,  then,  be  kept  active, 
body  and  soul,  and  impressions  must  be  made  while  he  is 
thus  active  and  consequently  receptive.  In  this  theory 
there  is,  to  be  sure,  nothing  that  is  novel.  But  when  it  is 
faithfully  carried  into  practice  year  after  year,  it  cannot  fail 
to  leave  a  distinct  impress  upon  a  boy's  life. 


READING  AND  LITERATURE  119 

A.  In  the  Lower  Grades 

The  reading  lesson  in  the  earlier  grades  falls  readily  into 
two  parts ;  namely,  gaining  a  thorough  understanding  of  the 
text  that  is  to  be  read,  and  coming  to  an  appreciation  of  it 
by  reading  it  aloud.  It  cannot  be  looked  upon  as  we  regard 
a  reading  lesson  from  a  "reader,"  for  the  time  is  not  de- 
voted exclusively,  or  even  in  greater  part,  to  the  practice  of 
reading  orally.  The  oral  reading  is  the  culmination  of  the 
exercise,  but  it  is  dependent  for  its  greatest  efficacy  upon  the 
preliminary  analysis  and  discussion  of  the  text. 

This  preliminary  discussion  is  based  on  the  conviction 
that  a  boy  should  never  be  required  to  read  orally  anything 
he  does  not  fully  understand.  The  Instructions  of  the 
Minister  insist  that  this  conviction  is  well  founded ;  and  the 
daily  exercises  in  the  classroom  make  it  clear  that  the  Min- 
ister only  expresses  the  general  attitude.  The  discussion, 
it  should  be  borne  in  mind,  is  not  simply  the  bit  of  cau- 
tion or  suggestion  that  any  self-respecting  teacher  anywhere 
would  regard  as  necessary,  but  an  exacting  exercise  in  itself. 
Thus,  for  example,  the  reading  lesson  for  Friday  is  first  dis- 
cussed in  a  general  way  by  the  teacher  at  the  end  of  the 
recitation  on  Wednesday.  He  points  out  some  of  the  diffi- 
culties without  clearing  them  away,  he  asks  about  the 
meaning  of  words  that  he  is  certain  are  not  familiar  to  the 
pupils,  and  he  makes  many  suggestions  about  the  best 
means  of  preparing  the  lesson.  Then  on  Friday  morning, 
perhaps  after  a  short  exercise  in  grammar,  the  earlier  part 
of  the  hour  is  devoted  to  a  more  thorough -going  discussion 
of  the  troublesome  passages  of  the  text.  Even  in  the  earlier 
grades  the  teacher  carries  on  a  campaign  of  questioning  and 
explanation  so  exacting  that  the  boys  must  exercise  their 
observation  and  reasoning  powers  to  the  utmost  in  order  to 


120     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

pass  through  the  exercise  successfully.  At  first  it  seems 
like  an  unnecessarily  rigid  ordeal  for  the  little  fellows,  and 
the  American  youth  would  undoubtedly  resent  it  as  an 
encroachment  upon  his  liberty  of  following  the  line  of  least 
resistance;  but  as  one  sees  the  exercise  from  day  to  day 
and  observes  the  discriminating  mind  that  it  develops,  one 
cannot  deny  its  powerful  influence  on  a  boy's  oral  reading 
and  his  ultimate  ability  to  express  himself  intelligently. 

In  a  given  instance,  the  teacher  must,  of  course,  select 
judiciously  the  matters  to  be  considered;  but  the  discussion 
may  include  almost  anything  that  is  relevant.  There  is  no 
ironclad  routine.  The  meanings  of  individual  words,  the 
opposites  of  words,  the  spelling  of  an  occasional  word  that 
might  easily  be  misspelled  or  mispronounced,  the  length 
of  the  verses  of  poetry  and  the  sentences  of  prose,  the 
grammatical  constructions  that  are  likely  to  affect  one's  oral 
reading,  the  meaning  of  individual  sentences,  and  above  all, 
both  at  the  beginning  and  end  of  the  discussion,  the  general 
meaning  of  the  selection  read;  —  these  are  the  matters  one 
is  sure  to  hear  discussed.  Frequently,  too,  before  the  oral 
reading,  the  teacher  calls  upon  some  boy  to  give  the  content 
of  the  lesson  in  his  own  words.  This  practice  has,  of  course, 
the  general  value  of  training  a  boy  in  straightforward  speech 
and  of  increasing  his  working  vocabulary;  but  its  imme- 
diate purpose  is  to  assure  the  teacher  that  the  pupil  has 
understood  accurately.  Only  after  thorough  study  of  this 
kind  is  the  final  reading  taken  up. 

How  does  training  of  this  kind  affect  the  pupil's  oral 
reading  ?  It  is  difficult  to  make  generalizations  that  are  in 
all  respects  sound,  yet  one  may  say  safely  that  the  French 
boy  reads  well.  In  the  first  place,  he  reads  correctly.  He 
is  exceedingly  accurate  and  distinct  in  his  pronunciation,  he 
does  not  habitually  leave  out  words,  and  he  cannot  be  said 


READING  AND  LITERATURE  121 

to  "  read  in  "  many  words  that  are  not  there.  Again,  he 
expresses  himself  in  a  good,  clear  voice.  In  the  entire  year 
I  heard  only  a  few  cases  of  faltering  or  mumbling,  and  in 
these  instances  the  teacher's  severe  criticism  led  me  to  be- 
lieve the  fault  unusual.  In  general  it  seems  to  be  thought 
that  a  boy  had  better  make  a  clear-cut  misreading  and  have 
it  corrected,  than  to  falter  and  hesitate,  even  though  he 
should  in  the  latter  instance  chance  to  get  through  the  para- 
graph or  poem  without  making  any  gross  blunders.  Then 
again,  the  reading  impresses  one  as  being  natural.  There 
is  little  of  the  so-called  expressive  reading  that  elocutionists 
cultivate  for  the  purpose  of  proving  their  versatility.  The 
one  aim  is  to  express  an  honest  interpretation.  The  boy 
has  adequate  knowledge  of  what  he  reads,  and  in  the  con- 
sciousness of  this  knowledge  he  can  combine  abandon  and 
fitness.  Thus  it  comes  about  that  the  spirit  as  well  as  the 
form  of  the  reading  is  good.  Pupils  read  as  if  they  were 
putting  all  their  intelligence  and  all  their  best  spirit  into  the 
task.  Their  characteristic  French  naivete  seems  to  prevent 
them  from  ever  suspecting  that  anybody  might  laugh  at 
their  enthusiasm  or  their  fidelity  in  expressing  sentiment. 

Good  reading  of  this  kind  perpetuates  itself.  If  boys 
hear  their  classmates  reading  well  every  day,  and  know 
themselves  how  to  read  well,  they  will  enjoy  the  exercise; 
and  French  boys  do  enjoy  it.  They  are  eager  to  read  and 
eager  to  listen.  If  a  classmate  does  not  read  convincingly, 
they  criticise  him  sharply;  if  he  succeeds  especially  well, 
they  reveal  the  utmost  respect  for  his  ability.  This  appar- 
ent hazard  in  the  exercise  seems  to  increase  rather  than 
diminish  a  pupil's  willingness  to  try  his  skill. 

To  the  interest  which  the  pupils  themselves  create  must 
be  added  that  which  is  perpetuated  by  the  teacher's  own 
example.     When,  toward  the  end  of  a  recitation,  after  the 


122     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

pupils  have  read,  the  teacher  reads  the  lesson  himself,  there 
is  usually  rapt  attention.  And  when  he  volunteers  to  read 
a  short  story  or  a  poem  that  is  not  in  the  day's  assignment, 
there  is  frequently  much  noisy  enthusiasm.  The  first 
reading  of  this  kind  that  I  heard  will  always  remain  vividly 
in  my  memory.  It  was  in  a  primary  school  in  Paris.  The 
class  had  been  discussing  the  Revolution,  and  the  teacher,  a 
gray-headed,  gray-bearded  man  of  fifty-four  years,  had 
explained  the  tremendous  losses  that  the  world  had  suffered 
because  of  the  Terror.  Then  he  told  how,  according  to 
tradition,  the  poets  Andre  Chenier  and  Roucher  had  been 
led  to  the  guillotine  together.  Turning  to  the  little  book- 
case behind  his  desk,  he  took  from  it  a  volume  that  con- 
tained Chenier's  La  Jeune  Captive.  After  he  had  explained 
that  Chenier  had  written  this  poem  while  he  was  imprisoned 
at  St.  Lazare,  he  read  it  simply  and  with  feeling.  The  little 
boys  of  twelve,  with  their  elbows  on  their  desks  and  their 
chins  resting  in  their  palms,  listened  with  increasing  emotion 
until  he  came  to  the  impressive  lines, 

0  mort!  tu  peux  attendre;  eloigne,  eloigne-toi! 

and  had  gone  on  to  the  end  of  the  poem;  and  it  was  only 
after  he  had  put  the  book  back  in  the  case  that  the  pupils 
took  a  deep  breath  and  returned  to  their  schoolday  tasks 
from  this  glimpse  of  the  tremendously  dramatic  fife  of  their 
great-grandfathers.  Such  reading,  I  soon  discovered,  was 
not  a  rare  kind  of  exception,  nor  was  it  the  work  of  any 
special  teacher  of  expression,  but  only  a  regular  part  of  the 
duties  of  all  grade  teachers.1 

If  lessons  in  reading  are  well  directed,  they  are,  I  believe, 
likely  to  be  more  important  than  most  formal  lessons  in  oral 
composition.     The  pupil  has  practice  in  pronunciation,  he 

1  The  normal  schools  have  special  teachers  of  reading. 


READING  AND  LITERATURE  123 

is  obliged  to  fix  new  words  in  mind,  and  lie  is  led  to  exercise 
his  sense  of  relation.  But  these  are  only  the  most  common- 
place benefits.  Above  these  stands  one  that  we  seem  too 
frequently  to  forget;  namely,  that  the  entire  process  of 
reading  aloud  deepens  the  feeling  of  the  one  who  reads  — 
that  is,  when  he  reads  well  —  and  completes  the  meaning 
of  the  author  in  a  way  that  is  impossible  if  one  peruses 
silently.  The  reader's  life  is  quickened  by  his  own  activity, 
and  while  he  is  in  this  impressionable  state,  he  is  brought 
into  close  contact  with  vigorous  thought  and  a  variety  of 
emotions  recorded  in  language  good  enough  to  remember. 
Reading  that  is  in  any  such  manner  lifted  above  the  conven- 
tional and  the  perfunctory  must  inevitably  influence  a 
pupil's  entire  mental  experience. 

B.  In  the  Upper  Grades:    Explication  of  Texts 

1.   The  Method  of  Explication 

As  we  advance  in  the  grades  toward  the  time  when  the 
boy  is  fourteen  or  fifteen  years  of  age,  the  emphasis  in  read- 
ing lessons  is  gradually  shifted.  Oral  reading  becomes  less 
and  less  the  center  of  study  and  becomes  more  and  more  a 
subordinate  part  of  an  exercise  that  the  French  call  explica- 
tion des  textes.  This  method  of  studying  literature  seems 
to  have  had  its  origin  in  the  explication  of  Latin  and  Greek 
texts.  When,  however,  it  came  to  be  applied  generally  to 
the  mother  tongue,  it  underwent  so  many  changes  in  meeting 
the  demands  of  a  living  language,  that  it  is  now  quite  differ- 
ent from  the  method  employed  in  the  study  of  the  Classics. 
It  is,  in  truth,  when  one  considers  the  whole  procedure  and 
its  spirit,  almost  unique  in  character.  To  be  sure,  it  must 
partake  of  other  methods  of  literary  study;  but  in  its  propor- 
tion, its  balance,  its  completeness,  its  intent,  it  is  distinct. 
It  is  not  merely  the  annotation  of  texts  read  carefully  in 


124    HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

class;  it  is  not  like  our  so-called  appreciative  study  in 
which  the  teacher  endeavors  to  lead  the  pupil,  without 
too  minute  analysis  on  his  part,  to  catch  the  spirit  of  an 
author  or  to  see  the  beauty  of  his  work;  it  is  not  any  species 
of  meat-axe  criticism  in  which  the  teacher  leaves  only  a 
chopped-up  carcass  for  the  edification  of  the  pupil;  and  it  is 
not  a  dry  study  of  words,  or  an  overminute  study  of  gram- 
mar or  rhetoric.  It  is,  rather  than  any  of  these,  an  exercise 
that  aims  to  seize  upon  and  unfold  an  author's  purpose  and 
his  meaning  so  that  the  pupil  will  be  in  a  condition  of  mind 
to  react  with  intelligence  on  what  the  author  has  said.  It 
includes  the  study  of  words,  of  grammatical  and  rhetorical 
principles,  the  making  of  close  analysis,  and  the  exercise  of 
judgment;  but  these  are  all  subordinate  to  the  one  purpose 
of  catching  the  full  force  of  the  author's  meaning.  It  is  not 
exclusively  historical,  biographical,  or  critical;  it  combines 
the  best  parts  of  all  three.  It  is  an  attempt  to  get  rid  of  all 
the  mental  friction  possible,  so  that  what  a  writer  has  said 
will  find  its  way  into  the  pupil's  deepest  consciousness. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  detail  step  by  step  the  proced- 
ure followed  in  a  great  number  of  different  instances;  and 
it  would  be  quite  as  impossible  to  show  all  that  the  exercise 
is  in  spirit.  I  shall,  however,  point  out  some  of  the  funda- 
mentals of  the  method  as  I  saw  it  in  practice,  try  to  suggest 
some  of  its  spirit,  and  give  at  least  one  typical  example. 

The  first  requisite  in  the  explication  of  a  text  is  thorough 
word-by- word  knowledge.  This  part  of  the  study  is  based 
upon  the  simple  theory  —  sometimes  hopelessly  forgotten 
by  teachers  of  literature  —  that  appreciation  must  come, 
first  of  all,  from  knowing  what  an  author  has  said.  De- 
spite all  that  has  been  written  about  the  French  people's 
worship  of  form,  they  are  chiefly  interested  in  substance.  In 
every  schoolroom  exercise  based  on  a  French  classic,  the 


READING  AND  LITERATURE  125 

greater  part  of  the  teacher's  energy  is  devoted  to  helping 
the  pupil  to  answer  the  question,  "  What  does  it  mean  ?  " 
In  fact,  in  most  instances  it  is  only  as  the  form  emerges 
significantly  from  the  meaning,  that  it  is  considered  at  all. 
Thus  it  comes  about  that  this  first  part  of  the  explication  is 
very  important.  There  must  be  no  wrongly  or  imperfectly 
understood  words  or  idioms  to  prevent  the  pupil  from  com- 
prehending. Then,  when  these  purely  verbal  difficulties 
have  been  cleared  away,  the  teacher  calls  upon  some  of  the 
pupils  to  read  or,  perhaps,  to  summarize  the  lesson  in  a  few 
words,  so  that  he  may  feel  justified  in  passing  on  from  this 
part  of  the  exercise. 

Usually  the  next  step  is  to  observe  the  organization  of  the 
ideas.  Guided  by  the  teacher,  the  pupils  endeavor  to  find 
at  the  outset  the  author's  chief  idea,  his  general  theme. 
If  the  passage  studied  is  not  a  complete  poem  or  story  or 
essay,  but  a  fragment  of  a  longer  work,  the  teacher  first  of 
all  relates  it  to  the  general  theme  of  the  large  unit  from 
which  it  has  been  taken,  so  that  the  pupils  will  not  fix  it  in 
mind  as  something  isolated.  When  this  is  once  done,  and 
the  central  idea  has  been  firmly  grasped,  the  teacher  directs 
attention  to  the  subordinate  ideas  and,  logically,  to  the 
divisions  of  the  text  that  mark  the  limits  of  these  ideas. 
Then  the  next  smaller  divisions  are  taken  up,  and  so  on 
down  to  the  smallest  idea  that  is  really  of  consequence. 
The  pupil's  notion  of  the  text  is,  then,  unified  and  balanced. 
He  does  not  see  it  as  so  many  words  whose  individual  mean- 
ings he  has  learned,  or  as  so  many  large  divisions  that  lack 
clearness  of  detail,  but  as  a  well-conceived  purpose  that  the 
author  has  carried  out  more  or  less  perfectly  from  the 
largest  divisions  to  the  smallest.  Structure  is  emphasized, 
because  structure  helps  to  reveal  the  author's  meaning;  yet 
words  and  idioms  also  must  be  considered,  for  in  a  master- 


126     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

piece  every  word  and  every  idiom  has  significance.  The 
pupil  must  gather  a  meaning  that  is  accurate  and  com- 
plete, and  he  must  experience  in  some  degree  the  author's 
original  emotion. 

The  comment  made  in  the  course  of  the  explication  is, 
quite  naturally,  more  inclusive  than  that  in  the  earlier 
reading  classes.  Nothing  that  might  help  to  render  the 
passage  lucid  and  luminous  seems  to  be  omitted.  Both  the 
subject-matter  and  the  expression  are  regarded  from  a  dozen 
different  approaches.  The  pupil  is  required  to  compare 
and,  especially,  to  contrast  the  ideas  with  others  that  are 
already  familiar  to  him ;  he  is  asked  to  compare  the  images 
with  others  that  he  can  recall  from  his  reading  or  experience ; 
he  is  put  to  the  intellectual  trouble  of  distinguishing  between 
matter-of-fact  and  poetic  conceptions;  he  is  led  to  see  that 
literary  art  is  neither  technical  perfection  nor  absolute 
abandon,  that  structure  must  not  project  through,  yet  must 
not  be  hidden.  Furthermore,  the  moral  and  social  life  of  the 
time  in  question  is  made  to  stand  out  distinctly.  Teachers 
do  not  offer  long  discussions  of  the  matter,  and  they  do 
not  ask  pupils  to  read  what  somebody  has  said  second- 
hand, but  they  habitually  assign  letters  and  memoirs  that 
have  at  the  same  time  both  literary  value  and  power  of 
illumination.  The  life  that  is  reflected  in  complementary 
reading  of  this  kind  always  interests  students,  it  gives  them 
something  solid  to  stand  upon,  and  it  stimulates  imagination 
and  reflection.  For  boys  of  fifteen,  sixteen,  or  seventeen,  it 
is  held  to  be  infinitely  better  than  overnice  critical  discus- 
sions of  literary  refinements  which  only  a  mature  man  or 
woman  can  see,  and  which,  perchance,  the  writer  himself 
never  intended. 

It  is  true  that  explication  of  texts  might  easily  become 
mechanical  or  unwieldy  in  the  hands  of  an  unskillful  teacher. 


READING  AND  LITERATURE  127 

The  danger  is  generally  obviated  through  the  pedagogical 
training  of  the  teacher  —  if  it  is  not  obviated  by  his  native 
ability  —  and  by  the  insistence  of  the  Minister  and  in- 
spectors that  teachers  master  the  art  of  selection.  Such  a 
teacher  as  one  is  most  likely  to  meet  in  the  classroom  seems 
to  have  learned  what  pieces  of  literature  are  easily  adapted 
to  pupils  of  a  given  age.  In  other  words,  he  has  learned 
what  to  assign.  Moreover,  he  seems  to  have  profited  in  his 
teaching  experience  by  discovering  what  kinds  of  language 
difficulties  are  usually  most  troublesome,  so  that  he  can  deal 
with  these  without  discussing  other  problems  that  the  pupils 
have  solved  themselves,  or  that  do  not  require  solution  at 
the  time.  The  lesson  does  not,  then,  degenerate  into  an 
incoherent  study  of  language.  Again,  the  typical  teacher 
reveals  much  skill  in  making  the  biographical  comment.  If 
the  life  of  an  author  has  a  special  bearing  on  the  piece 
assigned,  he  offers  due  explanation,  just  as  he  comments  on 
historical  or  sesthetic  or  philosophical  questions  that  arise; 
but  he  does  not  make  the  work  of  the  class  into  a  course  in 
literary  history.  The  chief  purpose  is  to  learn  literature, 
not  facts  about  literature.1  If  the  life  of  the  times  dealt 
with  is  significant,  the  pupil  learns  of  it  through  the  reading 
of  other  assignments  in  literature  —  letters,  very  fre- 
quently —  that  deal  with  the  period.  The  manual  of  liter- 
ary history,  if  used  at  all  below  the  university,  is  used 
sparingly,  and  almost  solely  for  the  purpose  of  enabling  a 
pupil  to  orient  himself  when  he  begins  to  study  the  writing 
of  a  given  author. 

The  pupil,  too,  is  expected  to  contribute  toward  a  stimu- 
lating, profitable  hour.    He  is  constantly  reminded  by  the 

1  "Tell  me,"  said  a  French  lady  who  had  been  a  teacher,  "something 
about  the  life  of  Longfellow.  You  Americans  always  know  everything  about 
the  money  an  author  made  from  his  first  poem,  about  his  sisters-in-law,  his 
wife's  stepfather,  his  niece's  fiance,  and  the  color  of  his  favorite  uncle's  eyes." 


128    HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

attitude  of  the  teacher  that  lessons  are  for  the  benefit  of  the 
pupil.  He  must  be  alert,  he  must  reveal  some  intelligence, 
and  he  must  exercise  his  mental  powers  without  reserve.  He 
learns  early  in  his  school  career  that  perfunctory  answers 
are  only  a  waste  of  time.  "It  is  admirable,"  said  a  boy  of 
thirteen  in  response  to  the  opening  question  about  a  short 
poem.  "Of  course  it  is  admirable,"  exclaimed  the  teacher 
with  some  wrath.  "If  it  were  not  admirable,  we  should  not 
be  studying  it."  Then  he  turned  to  another  boy  and  asked 
him  to  say  something  that  was  not  taken  for  granted  by 
everybody.  The  attitude  of  which  this  instance  is  typical 
is  maintained,  too,  toward  answers  that  the  pupils  have  read 
from  an  editor's  commentary.  "Perhaps  that  is  true,"  I 
heard  many  a  teacher  say,  "but  that  is  not  your  answer; 
you  read  that  in  a  footnote.  Now  tell  us  what  you  think 
about  the  matter  yourself."  He  is  not  required  to  classify 
all  his  reading  according  to  "schools"  or  literary  theories; 
but  he  is  asked  to  engage  in  the  process  of  reflection.  The 
reading  is  expected  to  produce  a  reaction  definite  enough  to 
be  expressed  clearly  in  acceptable  French. 

The  final  step  in  the  explication  is,  ordinarily,  the  reading 
of  the  entire  assignment  aloud.  The  reading  at  the  begin- 
ning of  a  lesson  is  only  preliminary;  it  is  meant  to  contribute 
to  the  explanation.  But  this  reading  at  the  end  is  supposed 
to  embody  all  the  knowledge  that  has  resulted  from  the 
explication.  The  author's  thought,  his  feeling,  and  his 
imagery  must  now  be  clearly  reflected.  Almost  invari- 
ably, too,  the  teachers  insist  upon  reading  that  is  good 
technically,  just  as  in  the  lower  grades.  The  boy  who 
stumbles  over  the  words,  or  reads  monotonously  as  if  he  did 
not  feel  the  author's  full  meaning,  or  gets  an  unpleasant  sing- 
song into  the  reading  of  verse,  is  sure  to  feel  the  wrath  of  his 
teacher  and  not  infrequently  the  disdain  of  his  classmates. 


READING  AND  LITERATURE  129 

It  seems  not  to  be  thought  unworthy  of  a  young  gentleman 
—  who  is  probably  growing  a  downy  moustache  —  to  read 
pathos,  simple  narrative,  humor,  tragedy,  or  exalted  poetry, 
as  if  he  felt  what  he  read. 

2.  An  Example  of  Explication 

Let  us  consider  an  example  of  explication.  Many  diffi- 
culties, I  am  aware,  must  attend  any  attempt  to  reduce 
classroom  discussion  to  the  printed  page.  To  begin  with, 
not  all  aspects  of  a  given  method  will  reveal  themselves  in 
one  recitation.1  There  is  the  danger,  too,  of  an  impression 
of  false  proportion:  something  may  be  omitted  or  passed 
over  hastily  that  some  reader  feels  is  very  important;  or 
perhaps  even  if  it  is  not  important,  some  reader  wishes  for 
personal  reasons  to  have  it  discussed  fully.  Furthermore, 
it  is  extremely  difficult  to  put  much  of  the  spirit  of  a  recita- 
tion into  print.  The  teacher's  outline  and  the  full  notes  I 
secured  will  enable  me,  however,  to  indicate  the  facts  of  the 
lesson,  and  the  exercise  thus  reconstructed  may  suggest  a 
little  of  the  spirit  in  which  teacher  and  pupil  carry  on  the 
work.  This  recitation  was  in  Lycee  Hoche,  Versailles,  and 
it  was  conducted  by  Monsieur  J.  Bezard,  who  is  recognized 
as  a  skillful  teacher.  Most  of  the  boys  in  the  class  were 
sixteen  years  of  age. 

The  text  for  study  was  Lamar  tine's  short  poem,  Vlsole- 
ment.  It  had  been  assigned  some  days  in  advance,  so  that 
the  pupils  might  have  ample  time  to  read  and  reread  it  and 
to  reflect  upon  it.  The  very  definite  purpose  of  the  recita- 
tion, which  covered  two  full  hours  (with  a  short  intermis- 
sion in  the  middle  of  the  session),  was  to  discover  in  the 
poem  the  essential  characteristics  of  the  romantic  state  of 

1  The  following  lesson  is,  for  example,  chiefly  an  explication  of  literary 
history.  If  the  same  teacher  had  been  treating  Corneille  or  La  Bruyere,  he 
would  have  given  larger  place  to  grammar  and  the  history  of  words. 


130     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

mind.  In  keeping  with  the  accepted  practice  in  France, 
the  teacher  had  cleared  the  way  for  a  good  recitation  by 
making  definite  suggestions  to  the  pupils  and  by  preparing 
himself  with  extreme  thoroughness.  Throughout  the  two 
periods  the  pupils  wrote  down  from  time  to  time  such  notes 
as  seemed  important.  This  practice,  the  teacher  pointed 
out,  was  valuable  not  only  in  the  individual  recitation,  but 
in  summarizing  the  year's  work.  At  the  end  of  the  year, 
the  pupil  possesses  an  extremely  serviceable  commentary 
on  all  the  reading  he  has  done.  Monsieur  Bezard  has,  too, 
a  very  stimulating  way  of  writing  with  the  pupils.  He  does 
not  write,  nor  do  the  pupils,  in  the  midst  of  the  discussion 
of  a  given  question,  but  as  soon  as  a  matter  is  threshed  out, 
as  soon  as  a  conclusion  is  reached,  teacher  and  pupil  write 
together;  but  each,  of  course,  in  his  own  way.  After  they 
have  written,  the  next  question  is  taken  up.  As  to  the 
spirit  of  this  recitation,  it  may  be  said,  I  believe,  that  the 
teacher's  chief  concern  was  threefold:  (i)  to  set  the  pupils 
to  thinking  and  talking;  (2)  to  have  them  express  them- 
selves with  absolute  sincerity  and  without  reserve;  and  (3) 
to  keep  them  in  a  pleasant  state  of  mind. 

I.  THE  SUBJECT-MATTER 

In  the  recitation  itself,  the  teacher  begins  by  speaking 
briefly  about  the  Meditations,  the  volume  in  which  Vlsole- 
ment  was  originally  published.  He  explains  that  perhaps 
the  Cid  in  1636  and  Andromaque  in  1667  were  the  only  other 
writings  in  French  that  had  been  received  with  such  favor 
as  had  the  Meditations.  Lamartine,  he  points  out,  was 
unknown  in  1819,  yet  celebrated  in  all  Europe  in  1820.  It 
seemed  that  the  Meditations,  like  other  books  that  meet  the 
need  of  a  certain  time,  had  been  waited  for  by  the  people. 
It  met  an  immediate  response.     Vlsolement,  the  first  poem 


READING  AND  LITERATURE  131 

in  the  volume,  is  itself  sufficient  to  define  the  public  taste  of 
that  date;  it  represents  the  romantic  state  of  mind. 

A.  Analysis 

The  teacher  then  asks  a  few  clear-cut  questions  about  the 
preparation  that  the  pupils  have  made,  remarks  that  he 
hopes  every  boy  has  studied  the  poem  with  great  care  and 
has  made  a  written  plan  of  it,  and  then  calls  upon  a  boy  to 
read.  The  boy  begins  to  read,  but  the  teacher  interrupts 
him.  "  Don't  miss  anything.  Read  all.  You  have  for- 
gotten the  title."     Then  the  boy  reads: 

LTSOLEMENT  1 

(1) 
Souvent  sur  la  montagne,  a  l'ombre  du  vieux  chene 
Au  coucher  du  soleil,  tristement  je  m'assieds; 
Je  promene  au  hasard  mes  regards  sur  la  plaine, 
Dont  le  tableau  changeaDt  se  deroule  a.  mes  pieds. 

(2) 
Ici  gronde  le  fleuve  aux  vagues  ecumantes; 
II  serpente,  et  s'enfonce  en  un  lointain  obscur; 
La  le  lac  immobile  etend  ses  eaux  dormantes 
Ou  Fetoile  du  soir  se  leve  dans  l'azur. 

1  This  illustrative  lesson  requires  the  use  of  the  original  language  of  the 
poem.  For  the  convenience  of  readers  who  do  not  know  French,  I  append  a 
translation,  made  by  Professor  Francis  Daniels,  of  Wabash  College. 

ISOLATION 
(1) 
Oft  on  the  mountain,  in  the  old  oak's  shade, 

Sadly  at  close  of  day  I  take  my  seat; 
Upon  the  plain  my  random  look  is  laid, 

Where  spreads  a  changing  picture  at  my  feet. 

(2) 
Here  bickers  with  its  foaming  waves  the  stream; 

It  winds,  and  in  dim  haze  is  lost  afar; 
Yonder  the  drowsy  lake  lies  all  adream, 

Where  rises  in  the  blue  the  evening  star. 


132    HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

(3) 
Au  sommet  de  ces  monts  couronnes  de  bois  sombres, 
Le  crepuscule  encor  jette  un  dernier  rayon; 
Et  le  char  vaporeux  de  la  reine  des  ombres 
Monte,  et  blanchit  deja  les  bords  de  l'horizon. 

(4) 
Cependant,  s'elancant  de  la  fleche  gothique, 
Un  son  religieux  se  repand  dans  les  airs: 
Le  voyageur  s'arrete,  et  la  cloche  rustique 
Aux  derniers  bruits  du  jour  mele  de  saints  concerts. 

When  he  finishes  the  fourth  stanza  he  says,  "There  is  the 
first  part  of  the  poem.  The  poet  has  described  the  country 
at  twilight." 

"Yes,  in  a  way,"  replies  the  teacher;  "but  you  have  for- 
gotten the  important  part.  You  say  these  stanzas  are  a 
description  of  the  country  at  twilight.  What  are  the  char- 
acteristics of  this  period  of  the  day  ?" 

One  pupil:  "Obscurity." 

Another:  "Mystery." 

The  pupil  who  has  read:  "Tranquillity." 

"That  is  it,"  replies  the  teacher.  "At  twilight  when 
everything  sinks  into  half  obscurity,  one  gains  the  impres- 
sion of  great  repose,  great  calm  in  nature.  Let  us  write 
then  for  the  first  part  ..." 


(3) 

The  gathering  dusk  still  casts  a  farewell  light 
On  these  dark  mountain  summits,  forest -crowned; 

The  vaporous  chariot  of  the  queen  of  night 
Rises,  and  whitens  the  horizon's  bound. 

(4) 

Now  meanwhile,  pealing  from  the  Gothic  spire, 

A  holy  sound  upon  the  air  outfloats; 
The  traveller  stops;  as  day's  last  hums  expire 

Pealeth  the  rustic  bell  its  hallowed  notes. 


READING  AND  LITERATURE  133 

The  teacher  and  pupils  write  together  as  the  teacher 
dictates: 

General  Theme 

1.    There  is  a  singular  charm  in  a  quiet  landscape. 

"  Now  will  you  continue  the  reading  ?  " 
The  pupil  reads  on : 

(S) 
Mais  a,  ces  doux  tableaux  mon  ame  indifferente 
N'eprouve  devant  eux  ni  charme  ni  transports; 
Je  contemple  la  terre  ainsi  qu'une  ombre  errante: 
Le  soleil  des  vivants  n'echauffe  plus  les  morts. 

(6) 
De  colline  en  colline  en  vain  portant  ma  vue, 
Du  sud  a.  Paquilon,  de  l'aurore  au  couchant, 
Je  parcours  tous  les  points  de  l'immense  etendue, 
Et  je  dis:  "  Nulle  part  le  bonheur  ne  m'attend." 

(7) 
Que  me  font  ces  vallons,  ces  palais,  ces  chaumieres, 
Vains  objets  dont  pour  moi  le  charme  est  envole  ? 
Fleuves,  rochers,  forets,  solitudes  si  cheres, 
Un  seul  etre  vous  manque,  et  tout  est  depeuple! 


(s) 

But  by  these  pictures  sweet  my  soul  unswayed 
Feels  neither  charm  nor  rapture  on  it  shed; 

The  earth  I  gaze  on  like  a  wandering  shade: 

The  sun  of  those  who  live  warms  not  the  dead. 

(6) 

From  hill  to  hill  in  vain  I  turn  my  face, 

From  south  to  north,  from  east  unto  the  west, 

I  traverse  all  the  points  of  boundless  space: 
Nowhere  for  me,  O  Joy,  thou  tarriest! 

(7) 

These  vales,  these  palaces,  these  huts  appear 
Vain  objects  all,  whose  charm  for  me  has  fled  I 

Streams,  rocks,  and  forests,  solitudes  so  dear, 
Ye  lack  one  soul,  —  all  is  untenanted! 


134     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

(8) 
Que  le  tour  du  soleil  ou  commence  ou  s'acheve, 
D'un  ceil  indifferent  je  le  suis  dans  son  cours; 
En  un  ciel  sombre  ou  pur  qu'il  se  couche  ou  se  leve, 
Qu'importe  le  soleil  ?  je  n'attends  rien  des  jours. 

(9) 
Quand  je  pourrais  le  suivre  en  sa  vaste  carriere, 
Mes  yeux  verraient  partout  le  vide  et  les  deserts: 
Je  ne  desire  rien  de  tout  ce  qu'il  eclaire; 
Je  ne  demande  rien  a  l'immense  univers. 

"  This  is  the  second  part;  and  I  should  call  it '  The  poet's 
indifference  to  nature.'  " 

"Oh,  no,  no!"  exclaims  the  teacher.  "That  would 
never  do." 

After  a  spirited  discussion  in  which  all  the  pupils  partic- 
ipate, it  is  agreed  that  this  part  should  be  called  "  The 
indifference  and  coldness  of  nature  as  regarded  by  the  poet 
in  his  grief." 

"  What  grief  ?  "  asks  the  teacher. 

Several  pupils:  "  The  death  of  Elvire." 

Teacher:  "  Who  was  Elvire  ?  " 

A  pupil:  "  Madame  Charles,  whom  he  had  known  at 
Aix-les-Bains  in  1816  and  who  died  a  consumptive  in  1818." 

Teacher: 

"  '  Un  seul  etre  vous  manque,  et  tout  est  depeuple.' 

(8) 
His  course  I  follow  with  indifferent  eyes, 

Whether  the  sun  begin  or  end  his  way; 
Whether  in  fair  or  foul  he  set  or  rise, 

What  matters  it  ?    I  hope  naught  from  the  day. 

(9) 
Though  him  I  followed  in  his  vast  career, 

Mine  eyes  would  see  but  empty  wastes  unfurled; 
Naught  do  I  wish  of  all  he  lighteth  here; 

Naught  ask  I  of  the  illimitable  world. 


READING  AND  LITERATURE  135 

"He  is  still  broken-hearted  in  his  sorrow,  and  searches 
nature  in  vain  for  an  echo  of  his  feeling.  Such  is  the  sec- 
ond part. 

"  Let  us  now  pass  to  the  third.  What  do  you  call  this 
last  division,  the  remaining  stanzas  ?    Read  them.  " 

The  pupil  reads: 

do) 

Mais  peut-etre  au  dela  des  bornes  de  sa  sphere, 
Lieux  cm  le  vrai  soleil  eclaire  d'autres  cieux, 
Si  je  pouvais  laisser  ma  depouille  a  la  terre, 
Ce  que  j'ai  tant  reve  paraitrait  a  mes  yeux! 

(11) 

La,  je  m'enivrerais  a,  la  source  ou  j 'aspire; 
La,  je  retrouverais  et  l'espoir  et  l'amour, 
Et  ce  bien  ideal  que  toute  ame  desire, 
Et  qui  n'a  pas  de  nom  au  terrestre  sejour! 

(12) 

Que  ne  puis-je,  porte  sur  le  char  de  l'Aurore, 
Vague  objet  de  mes  voeux,  m'elancer  jusqu'a  toi! 
Sur  la  terre  d'exil  pourquoi  reste-je  encore  ? 
II  n'est  rien  de  commun  entre  la  terre  et  moi. 


do) 

Mayhap  beyond  the  limits  of  his  round, 

Realms  where  the  true  Sun  brightens  other  skies, 

Were  I  to  leave  my  body  in  the  ground, 

What  I  have  dreamed  so  long  would  greet  mine  eyes! 

(n) 

There  I  should  quaff  the  fount,  where  I  aspire; 

There  love  and  hope  once  more  would  be  mine  own, 
And  that  ideal  good  all  souls  desire 

And  which  is  nameless  in  this  earthly  wone! 

(12) 

Why  can  I  not,  borne  on  Aurora's  car, 

Vague  object  of  my  dreams,  soar  up  to  thee  ? 

Why  still  in  exile  stay  I  here  afar  ? 

No  common  bond  unites  the  earth  and  me. 


136     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

(13) 
Quand  la  feuille  des  bois  tombe  dans  la  prairie, 
Le  vent  du  soir  s'eleve  et  l'arrache  aux  vallons; 
Et  moi,  je  suis  semblable  a  la  feuille  fletrie: 
Emportez-moi  comme  elle,  orageux  aquilons! 

"The  third  part:  I  should  call  that  the  vision  of  the 
beyond;  or  perhaps  it  is  happiness." 

"  The  vision  of  the  beyond  ?  What  do  you  mean  by  '  the 
beyond  '  ?  "  inquires  the  teacher. 

"  By  that  I  mean  that  the  poet  believes  there  is  a  place 
where  happiness,  absolute  good  fortune,  smiles  upon  men." 

"  Very  well,"  answers  the  teacher.    "Let  us  write.  " 

The  teacher  dictates  and  all  write  (See  top  of  page  133) : 

2.    Nevertheless  this  quiet  country  is  not  sufficient  for  the  heart  of  an 
afflicted  man. 

(a)  Nature  seems  indifferent  and  cold. 

(b)  It  is  somewhere  in  the  future  that  the  poet  hopes  to  find  reality 

{real  happiness). 

B.    The  General  Character  or  The  Poem 

After  this  analysis,  which  is  carried  on  rapidly,  consuming 
not  more  than  ten  or  fifteen  minutes,  the  class  takes  up  the 
study  of  the  subject-matter  in  a  more  exhaustive  fashion. 
The  pupils  discuss  suitable  subjects  for  lyrics,  such  as  love 
and  death;  they  observe  how  Lamartine  disregarded  the 
older  standards  and  the  older  ideals,  how  he  pushed  aside 
the  conventions  of  classic  art  and  its  hatred  for  the  expres- 
sion of  personality,  for  the  ego,  and  through  his  attitude 
gave  his  poetry  a  spirit  of  freshness  and  novelty. 

"  What,"  asks  the  teacher,  "  is  the  saying  which  sums 
up,  on  this  point,  the  classical  attitude  ?  " 

(13) 

When  on  the  plain  the  forest  leaf  doth  fall, 

The  wind  of  even  wafts  it  to  the  vales. 
Like  to  a  withered  leaf  am  I  withal; 

Sweep  me  along  like  it,  ye  stormy  galesl 


READING  AND  LITERATURE  137 

Many  pupils:  "The  saying  of  Pascal,  —  'The  I  is 
odious!'"1 

"  And  what  is  the  other  symbolic  saying,  the  first  roman- 
tic utterance  .  .  .  ?  " 

The  same  pupils:  "  The  words  of  Rousseau  2  at  the  be- 
ginning of  his  Confessions :  '  I  wish  to  reveal  to  my  fellow 
beings  a  man  in  all  the  truth  of  nature,  and  this  man,  it  will 
be  myself!  .  .  .     Myself  alone !'  " 

The  teacher:  "Well  said!  There  we  have  the  doctrine 
of  all  the  romanticists,  the  first  which  interprets  for  us  their 
'  state  of  mind.'  Lamar  tine  revealed  to  the  reader  that 
which  would  have  seemed  odious,  or  at  least  negligible,  a 
hundred  years  earlier,  —  his  emotions,  his  personal  feelings. 
1  Je  m'assieds  .  .  .,  je  promene  .  .  .,  mon  ame  .  .  .,  ma 
vue  .  .  .,  je  n'attends  .  .  .,  je  ne  desire  .  .  .,  mes  yeux,' 
—  always  the  expression  of  self!  As  to  his  sentiments,  it 
seems  at  first  sight  that  they  are  nothing  new.  To  speak 
the  truth,  they  seem  to  be  commonplace." 

At  this  word  "  commonplace  "  a  few  pupils  give  signs  of 
surprise. 

"  You  see,"  remarks  Monsieur  Bezard,  turning  to  me, 
"  they  have  their  own  opinions  of  the  poetry  they  read;  and 
the  art  of  discussing  it  is  not  wholly  unknown  to  them.  — 
But  why  do  you  protest,  M ?  " 

The  pupil:  "  The  word  is  very  severe  for  such  a  poet  as 
Lamartine." 

The  teacher:  "  Possibly  it  seems  so  because  you  do  not 
understand  the  word  in  the  sense  in  which  I  have  used  it.3  I 
understand  here  by  the  word  a  sentiment  all  of  us  meet  with 

1  "  Le  moi  est  haissable." 

2  The  class  had  studied  Rousseau  only  a  short  time  before. 

s  The  French  word  was  the  noun  banalite,  which  might  be  taken  in  a 
more  unfavorable  sense. 


138  HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

often.  Haven't  you  ever  experienced  the  tranquillity  of 
the  evening  ?  " 

"Yes,  yes!" 

"And  haven't  you  found  nature  quite  indifferent  to  your 
grief?" 

"Yes,  yes;  that  is  true." 

"And  haven't  you,  whatever  your  religious  faith,  shared 
the  hope  of  the  poet  ?  " 

Two  or  three  pupils:  "Yes,  yes." 

Another:  "But  we  could  not  say  it  in  verse." 

Teacher:  "That  is  just  what  I  was  about  to  remark. 
The  subject  of  a  lyric  poem  is  always  an  idea  that  is  common 
to  the  world.  .  .  ." 

A  pupil:  "Love." 

Another:  "Death." 

A  third:  "Nature." 

Teacher:  "...  apropos  of  which  the  poet  opens  to  us 
his  own  heart,  reveals  what  he  calls  the  'sighing  of  his 
soul';  what  Victor  Hugo  would  call  his  own  Chants  du 
crepuscule  or  his  Contemplations;  what  the  .  .  ." 

Many  pupils :  ' '  An  elegy . ' ' 

Teacher:  "Just  the  word  Lamartine  himself  used  in  the 
commentary  that  follows  each  of  his  Meditations !  .  .  . 
It  becomes  quite  clear,  then,  that  that  which  interests  us  is 
not  the  subject-matter  itself,  but  the  sighing,  the  quality  of 
the  sighing!    I  doubt,  for  example,  whether  the  sighings  of 

D or  of  N [two  sturdy  boys  in  the  class]  would  be 

capable  of  interesting  the  public,  whereas  those  of  Lamar- 
tine! .  .  ." 

(Laughter  by   the   entire   class,   including   D and 

N .) 

The  teacher  continues:  "The  question,  then,  really  is  to 
see  how  the  sighings  of  the  great  poet  render  interesting  his 


READING  AND  LITERATURE  139 

state  of  mind,  his  '  romantic  state  of  mind  ',  that  which  he 
puts  into  them  of  himself, '  of  the  man  himself ',  as  Buff  on 
says." 

A  pupil:  "  The  style." 

Another:  "  The  expression." 

Teacher:    "Yes,  all  the  qualities  that  make  a  poem  of 

Lamartine  differ  from  the  reflections  of  D or  N ,  or 

even  from  some  insignificant  and  cold  poem  belonging  to 
some  mediocre  poet  of  the  eighteenth  century,  a  J.-B.  Rous- 
seau, a  Delille,  a  Lebrun-Pindare.1  Let  us  return,  then,  to 
our  text." 

II.  LAMARTINES  EXPRESSION  {DICTION) 

A.  How  Sometimes  it  Falls  Short  of  Originality 

B.  The  Traces  of  Pseudo-Classic  Taste 

"  We  cannot  say,"  continues  the  teacher,  "  that  every- 
thing in  this  elegy  is  absolutely  original  and  serves  to  reveal 
the  romantic  state  of  mind.  The  severer  critics  can  find  in 
it  a  good  many  imperfections.  .  .  ." 

(Further  expressions  of  surprise.) 

Teacher:  "  How's  this  ?  You  do  not  find  any  worn-out 
turns  of  expression,  any  artificial  images  that  are  worthy  of 
Abbe  Delille,  or  at  least  of  Esmenard  ?     Search,  then." 

The  pupils  glance  through  the  text  and  mention  some 
worn  metaphors  such  as  le  char  vaporeux  de  la  reine  des 
ombres  or  le  char  de  I'Aurore;  such  faults  as  le  fleuve  aux 
vagues  ecumantes;  such  inconsistencies  as  saints  concerts 
(the  word  concert  applying  properly  to  the  harmonious 
sounds  of  several  wind  or  string  instruments,  and  not  to  the 

1  The  manner  in  which  Monsieur  Bezard  makes  a  year-course  of  expli- 
cation into  a  coherent  study  of  the  past  three  centuries  of  French  literature 
may  be  seen  advantageously  in  his  book  entitled  De  la  methods  UUeraire. 
Librairie  Vuibert. 


140     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

single  sound  of  a  country  church-bell);  some  additional 
faults  such  as  lafleche  gothique. 

Here  we  may  see  how  the  French  teacher  cultivates  in  his 
pupils  the  habit  of  precision,  and  to  what  measure  he  suc- 
ceeds. Their  alertness  is  well  illustrated  in  the  discussion 
of  this  last  phrase,  lafleche  gothique.  As  soon  as  it  is  cited, 
one  boy  declares  that  he  knows  this  is  a  fault,  for  he  has 
been  at  Milly,  where  Lamartine  said  he  wrote  the  poem,  and 
the  little  church  in  the  village  does  not  have  a  Gothic 
steeple  but  a  low  Roman  tower.  And  before  one  of  his 
classmates  can  finish  suggesting  that  perhaps  he  did  not 
observe  well,  he  holds  up  a  postcard  which  he  has  brought 
along  to  show  to  the  teacher.  "  Lamartine,"  explains 
Monsieur  Bezard,  "  had  not  in  1820  the  same  scruples  that 
we  have  in  1913.  At  that  time,  the  public  so  little  distin- 
guished the  various  periods  of  the  Middle  Ages  that  nothing 
suggested  to  the  poet  that  Roman  might  not  still  be  Gothic." 
He  adds,  moreover,  that  we  feel  the  influence  of  classic 
habits  on  the  rhythm  of  the  new  poetry.  In  this  respect  at 
least,  we  do  not  find  anything  very  new  or  very  original. 
Lamartine,  especially  in  1818,  did  not  feel  the  need  of  de- 
parting from  classical  standards.  Whereas  Victor  Hugo 
boasted  of  having  broken  up  the  Alexandrine,  and  whereas 
he  created  a  new  verse,  richer,  more  varied,  and  more  sono- 
rous, Lamartine  was  content,  at  least  it  so  appears,  with  the 
rhymes  and  divisions  familiar  to  the  disciples  of  Boileau. 

"  But,"  some  one  interrupts,  "  do  you  think  this  is  true  ?  " 

Many  pupils:  "  No,  no." 

Teacher:  "  It  is  true  that  the  effect  produced  is  not  the 
same,  in  spite  of  the  relative  poorness  of  the  rhyme,  in  spite 
of  the  conservative  structural  character  of  the  lines.  Let 
us  see," 


READING  AND  LITERATURE  141 

III.   THE  ORIGINALITY  OF  THE  RHYTHM  AND 

THE  IMAGES 

A.    The  Rhythm 

"And  nevertheless,  from  this  classic  verse,  in  appearance 
so  little  modified,  he  draws  effects  that  were  unknown  before 
he  wrote." 

j.   The  fullness,  the  amplitude  of  the  terse 

The  teacher  immediately  resorts  to  example.  First  he 
asks  a  boy  to  read,  and  then  he  (the  teacher)  takes  up  an 
enumeration  ("De  colline  en  colline  .  .  .  ,"  four  lines), 
an  interrogation  ("Que  me  font  ces  vallons  .  .  .  ,"  two 
lines),  another  enumeration  ("  Fleuves,  rochers  .  .  .  ," 
two  lines),  and  another  interrogation  ("Que  ne  puis- 
je  .  .  .  "  two  lines);  then  the  entire  stanza  ("Mais  peut- 
etre  au  dela  .  .  .  "). 

"Thus  the  poet  carries  us  without  effort  and  leads  us  with 
him  in  an  uninterrupted  movement:  he  rises  like  the  eagle 
which  seems  not  to  move  its  wings,  which  seems  to  rise  with- 
out effort  into  the  sky.  In  that  manner  he  makes  more 
profound  the  impression  of  calm  in  the  contemplation  (the 
first  part  of  the  poem),  of  resignation  in  the  melancholy 
reverie  (second  part),  and  of  serenity  in  the  expression  of 
hope  (third  part).  This  is  really  the  most  original  charac- 
teristic of  Lamartine's  poetry.  Try  to  reread  one  of  these 
enumerations  and  one  of  these  interrogations,  even  if  you 
are  only  a  novice  at  reading  aloud,  and  you  will  see  how  you 
are  'sustained'  by  the  poet,  how  you  find  time  to  breathe 
leisurely,  how  you  arrive  without  panting  at  the  end  of  a 
long  period." 

A  boy  reads: 

Mais  a  ces  doux  tableaux  .  .  . 
1  Que  me  font  ces  vallons  .  .  ,'  " 


142     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

Teacher:  "  There  in  those  two  stanzas  you  have  already 
found  some  of  Lamartine's  prodigious  facility." 

2.   The  variety  of  the  rhythm 

"  This  amplitude  is  altogether  different  from  mere  length. 
If  these  periods  carry  one  on  in  this  manner  without  appear- 
ing to  be  long  or  monotonous,  it  is  because  Lamartine,  with- 
out letting  it  be  seen,  has  introduced  a  thousand  elements 
of  variety. 

"  First,  note  the  pauses,  which  are  discreetly  dissimilar, 
but  which  the  reader  finds  by  instinct,  and  which  are  the 
first  secret  of  poetic  harmony,  even  in  the  grand  poetry  of 
the  steadier  kind  of  gait.  It  is  by  the  distribution  of  the 
pauses  that  a  verse  of  poetry  differs  from  a  line  of  prose  of 
twelve  syllables,  such  as  you  can  find  by  the  hundred  in  the 
poets  of  the  eighteenth  century!  Try  to  find  the  pauses  in 
each  part  of  the  poem." 

And  the  class  discovers  that  in  many  instances  after  a 
series  of  lines  which  march  steadily,  other  passages  have  the 
pauses  multiplied,  prolonged,  permitting  long  rests,  so  that 
the  reader  is  sure  to  prolong  the  thought  or  to  foresee  the 
direction  that  the  reverie  will  take. 

Examples : 

Souvent  °  sur  la  montagne  ft  a  l'ombre  du  vieux  chene  ft 
Monte  ft  et  blanchit  deja  .  .  . 

Que  me  font  ces  vallons,  ft  ces  palais,  ft  ces  chaumieres  ft 
Fleuves,  ft  rochers,  ft  forets,  ft  solitudes  si  cheres  ft 
Mais  peut-etre  ft 

"  Here  the  silence  is  so  eloquent  that  if  one  has  pro- 
nounced '  peut-etre  '  in  a  tone  of  surprise  and  hope,  he  leaves 
to  the  hearer  time  to  feel  the  transition,  and  pass  from 
despair  to  consolation." 


READING  AND  LITERATURE  143 

Then  the  teacher  points  out  other  pauses : 

La  ^  je  m'enivrerais  .  .  . 

Que  ne  puis-je,  °  porte  sur  le  char  de  l'Aurore. 

When  he  finishes,  he  continues  his  observations:  "  Each 
gives  to  the  stanza  it  introduces  the  time  necessary  for 
the  mind  to  take  wing,  to  the  eye  the  time  to  measure 
the  distance  to  be  covered.  Thus  the  poet  without  having 
willed  or  searched  has  found  by  instinct  the  secret  of  the 
variety  in  his  Hnes ;  and  by  so  doing  he  has  added  to  strength 
an  incomparable  grace. 

"  It  is  the  same  with  the  sounds,  that  is  to  say,  with  that 
management  of  the  strong  and  mute  syllables  which  makes 
verse  good  verse  or,  on  the  other  hand,  heavier  and  less 
harmonious  than  the  poorest  prose.  Notice  first  the  rhyme, 
which,  without  being  overnice,  has  always  the  sonorousness 
that  is  suited  to  a  poem  written  in  a  minor  key.  The  effects 
are  nearly  always  the  result  of  feminine  rhymes,  those  which 
prolong  the  sound  and  the  thought,  those  which  leave  time 
for  contemplating  the  landscape,  for  being  lost  in  the  de- 
spair, for  being  instructed  in  religious  consolations.  Even 
many  of  the  masculine  rhymes  contribute  in  their  turn. 
For  instance,  obscur  and  azur,  airs  and  concerts,  transports 
and  morts,  coars  and  jours,  deserts  and  univers,  amour  and 
sejour,  leave  the  fines  less  finished  than  such  rhymes  as 
envole  and  depeuple,  or  couchant  and  attend;  and  it  is  not  by 
mere  chance  that  everything  in  the  rhymes  leads  us  to  breathe 
out  the  voice  little  by  little,  to  trail  off  the  sounds  to  an 
almost  inaudible  close.  As  to  the  charm  that  comes  from 
the  succession  of  syllables  more  or  less  accented,  it  arises 
quite  evidently  from  the  ease  with  which  the  liaisons  or  the 
mutes  permit  the  linking  of  the  words  and  the  sentences 
without  shock,  without  the  least  appearance  of  hiatus.  .  .  . 


144     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

It  is  the  lactea  ubertas  of  Vergil,  which  no  one  of  our  poets 
save  Racine  calls  to  mind  better  than  Lamartine.  Com- 
pare his  poetry  with  the  most  celebrated  pieces  of  Victor 
Hugo  or  Musset;  you  will  find  more  strength  in  the 
one,  more  amiable  grace  in  the  other;  but  Lamartine 
is  unique  for  the  tranquil  sweep  of  his  tides  of  harmony; 
never  has  the  '  plaintive  elegy  '  been  expressed  with  more 
gentleness  and  calm  nobility." 

B.    The  Images 

"  And  what,  finally,  is  the  character  of  the  Lamar tinian 
image  ?  Without  doubt  it  lacks  the  precision,  the  bril- 
liancy, the  grandeur  that  we  see  quite  often  in  the  other 
romanticists.  It  is  reserved,  well  suited  to  half-tints,  some- 
what like  the  hazy  indefiniteness  of  twilight.  But  never- 
theless, it  is  well  adapted  to  the  elegy;  it  helps  the  poet  to 
put  everything  in  the  minor  key,  to  find  the  expression  best 
suited  to  each  of  the  parts  of  his  threnody." 

i.   The  half-tints  in  the  painting  of  the  landscape     {First  part) 

"  You  recall  that  Legouve  referred  to  certain  words  in  a 
text  as  '  words  of  significance.'  These  are  the  ones  on 
which  the  reader  leans,  the  ones  that  maintain  the  tone  of 
the  entire  passage.  In  the  first  four  stanzas  here,  what  are 
the  '  words  of  significance  '  ?     Read,  B ." 

The  pupils  note  the  words:  Tristement,  la  plaine,  se  de- 
roule,  lointain,  dormantes,  sombres,  blanchit,  religieux. 

"  There  are  the  words  that  stand  out,  the  ones  that  could 
be  recalled  from  a  rapid  reading.  True,  the  first  and  last 
do  not  suggest  images.  The  others  give  only  some  gray 
tints;  nothing  luminous;  nothing  gaudy.  As  to  the  more 
lively  images,  we  have  seen  that  they  are  a  little  out  of  tune, 


READING  AND  LITERATURE  145 

that  they  are  not  even  true :  the  river  is  about  thirty  miles 

from  Milly,  and  the  postcard  that  G has  brought  with 

him  shows  that  it  was  necessary  to  imagine  the  Gothic 
steeple.  The  landscapes  of  Lamartine  are  nearly  always 
thus.  When  he  has  wished  to  portray  them  in  an  ex- 
act manner,  he  has  not  always  been  entirely  successful 
(See  Jocelyn).  It  has  been  observed,  on  the  contrary,  that 
he  excelled  in  the  portrayal  of  the  night;  that  is  to  say, 
landscapes  where  one  can  see  few  things,  but  where  one's 
feeling  enables  one  to  divine  more  than  one  can  see.  Here 
we  see  in  the  exterior  world  just  what  is  in  harmony  with 
the  troubled  spirit  of  the  poet,  whose  gaze  is  always  half 
introspective,  and  who  casts  on  the  objects  of  the  land- 
scape a  part  of  his  own  melancholy.  When  you  compare 
Lamartine's  Le  Lac  with  the  passage  in  J.-J.  Rousseau  that 
inspired  it,  you  will  see  the  nature  of  this  transformation 
of  a  distinct  landscape  into  a  hazy  sketch,  that  which 
permits  reverie  to  be  carried  away  on  the  wings  of  observa- 
tion." 

2.    The  half-tints  in  the  expression  of  grief    {Second  part) 

"It  is  often  remarked  that  the  Greeks  shrank  away  from 
a  too  realistic  portrayal  of  physical  or  moral  anguish.  For 
instance,  when  the  artist  wished  to  avoid  showing  the  face 
of  Agamemnon  at  the  death  of  his  daughter,  he  represented 
the  unhappy  father  concealing  his  face  in  his  mantle.  La- 
martine has  something  of  this  Hellenic  reserve;  he  is  not 
carried  away  in  any  transports  of  enthusiasm,  and  he  does 
not  yield  himself  up  to  any  violent  despair;  he  contem- 
plates, protests  by  his  'indifference';  he  is  without  ambi- 
tion and  without  'vows'  in  the  presence  of  the  unpitying 
universe;  he  remains  calm,  if  not  cold. 

"It  does  not  follow  that  he  ceased  to  be  a  poet  or  to  think 
in  images;  but  the  images  in  the  second  part  of  the  poem, 


146     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

as  in  the  first,  are  a  little  gray,  voluntarily  browned  a  trifle, 
in  keeping  with  the  tendency  towards  reverie.  ...  A 
good  method  of  testing  the  poetic  value  of  images  is  that 
which  was  employed  formerly  by  certain  teachers  of  the 
humanities  in  helping  the  pupils  to  feel  the  beauty  of  expres- 
sion in  Vergil.1  It  consists  of  summing  up  the  poetry  in  a 
brief,  dry,  prosaic  formula,  and  then  comparing  this  abstract 
idea  with  the  picture  by  which  the  poet  has  interpreted  it." 

The  teacher  then  designates  five  pupils  and  asks  each  one 
to  sum  up  a  stanza  of  the  second  part  of  the  poem.  They 
sum  them  up  as  follows: 

First     stanza:  I  am  indifferent. 

Second  stanza:  I  do  not  find  happiness  anywhere. 

Third    stanza :  Nothing  speaks  to  my  heart. 

Fourth  stanza:  I  expect  nothing  from  time  .  .  . 

Fifth  stanza:  .  .  .  nor  from  the  things  about  me. 
Then  the  teacher  compares  each  summary  with  each  stanza, 
from  the  metaphors  in  the  first  ("  ombre  errante  "  .  .  .  "  le 
soleil  des  vivants  ")  and  the  evocation  of  the  third  ("vallons," 
etc.  ..."  fleuves,"  etc.)  to  the  view  the  poet  takes  of  the 
great  universe  in  the  fifth.  "  Yes,  truly,"  he  concludes, 
"  this  poet  is  pretty  nearly  always  one  who  thinks  only  in 
images;  but  the  images  are  bathed  in  a  fight  haze;  they 
correspond  to  his  melancholy." 

3.   The  half -tints  in  the  expression  of  hope    {Third  part) 

"  In  his  expression  of  religious  sentiment,  Lamar  tine  has 
been  much  reproached  by  the  orthodox  because,  they  say, 
he  lacks  sufficient  precision." 

A  pupil:  "  They  speak  about  religiosity  rather  than  real 
religious  feeling." 

1  This  practice  is  referred  to  in  a  book  on  the  teaching  of  Latin  that 
Monsieur  Bezard  has  since  published.  See  J.  Bezard,  Comment  apprendre 
le  latin  d  nosfils,  p.  303. 


READING  AND  LITERATURE  147 

Another:  "  Lamartine's  mother  one  time  wrote:  '  My 
son  stands  in  real  need  of  positive  faith.'  " 

"  But  that  which  certain  believers  consider  as  a  cause  of 
religious  deficiency  becomes  a  literary  beauty;  by  hopes  a 
trifle  vague  he  brings  to  an  admirable  close  this  elegy  in 
half-tint.  These  last  stanzas,  far  from  being  a  bright  light, 
are  a  series  of  reflections;  and  they  harmonize  well  with  the 
reflections  of  twilight!  They  are  a  reflection  of  Plato,  first, 
with  the  '  limits  of  the  sphere  '  that  man  can  not  overleap, 
with  the  true  sun  brightening  other  heavens,  which  we  may 
see  only  as  shadows  in  a  great  cavern!  Then  they  are  a 
reflection  of  intoxicating  Christian  mysticism,  in  which 
Lamartine  found,  with  Petrarch,  the  joys  of  ideal  love." 

A  pupil:  "  Lamartine  says  in  his  commentary  that  he 
had  taken  a  volume  of  Petrarch  with  him  to  the  mountain 
the  day  he  wrote  the  poem." 

The  teacher,  continuing:  —  "A  reflection  of  Petrarch, 
his  master,  after  whom  he  idealized  love  and  confused  it 
with  prayer.  They  are  a  reflection  of  nature  herself  in  the 
season  when  she  languishes  before  the  approach  of  winter 
and  with  which  we  have  a  comparison  in  the  last  stanza. 
And  after  we  have  read  once  again  this  admirable  compari- 
son, we  shall  have  a  more  definite  idea  of  the  simplicity  of 
Lamartine's  themes,  the  harmony  of  his  language  and  the 
color  of  his  style,  the  depth  and  nobility  of  his  feeling.  It 
is  justly  called  the  first  of  modern  elegiacs;  of  it  one  may 
say,  so  much  does  it  lift  one  toward  the  mountain  tops, 
'  Qu'il  n'est  rien  de  commun  entre  la  terre  et  lui! ' 

"  Listen: 

'  Quand  la  feuille  des  bois  tombe  dans  la  prairie, 
Le  vent  du  soir  s'eleve  et  l'arrache  aux  vallons; 
Et  moi,  je  suis  semblable  a  la  feuille  fletrie: 
Emportez-moi  comme  elle,  orageux  aquilons! '  " 


148     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

3.   The  Value  of  Explication 

When  we  add  the  personal  presence  of  a  good  teacher  to 
this  thorough-going  method  of  studying  a  text,  we  can  begin 
to  see  why  the  sons  of  shopkeepers,  physicians,  military 
engineers,  and  artillerymen  will  spend  two  hours  in  the  study 
of  a  short  poem  and  enjoy  every  minute  of  the  time.  We 
can  begin  to  understand,  too,  why  French  teachers  every- 
where attach  so  much  importance  to  explication  of  texts. 
It  seems  scarcely  necessary  to  enumerate  the  ways  in  which 
such  study  is  valuable.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  it 
trains  the  mind  in  logical  thinking,  since  first  of  all  the  pupil 
must  search  out  the  consecutive  order  of  the  ideas.  Then 
it  sharpens  the  feeling  for  structure  and  for  the  effective  use 
of  individual  words.  Again,  the  deliberation  with  which 
the  pupil  passes  over  the  lesson  fixes  his  attention  closely  on 
the  subject-matter.  Then,  too,  it  gives  him  such  a  clear 
insight  into  a  number  of  pieces  of  literature  that  he  is  much 
less  likely  to  be  content  with  superficial  knowledge  in  his 
outside  reading.  Still  again,  it  develops  intelligent  self- 
reliance.  When  a  pupil  has  devoted  several  years  to  study 
of  this  kind,  he  is  almost  certain  to  form  habits  of  doing 
work  so  thoroughly  that  he  will  not  be  perpetually  trying 
merely  to  meet  "  minimum  requirements "  and  assign- 
ments. And  finally,  it  gives  the  pupil  a  correct  notion  of 
the  relative  importance  of  the  general  theme,  the  structure, 
and  the  language  of  a  good  piece  of  literature.  Apprecia- 
tion, he  comes  to  see,  is  neither  something  mechanical  nor 
something  vague  and  hopelessly  elusive,  but  something 
toward  which  both  knowledge  and  feeling  contribute. 


READING  AND  LITERATURE  149 

ni.  MEMORY  EXERCISES  IN  READING  AND  LITERATURE 
Not  to  speak  in  some  detail  about  the  place  that  memory 
exercises  hold  in  reading  lessons  and  in  the  later  study  of 
literature  would  be  to  distort  facts.  At  one  time,  memory 
work  occupied  a  very  prominent  position  in  the  French 
school  life.  Teachers,  however,  were  not  always  thoughtful 
in  making  assignments,  and  they  forgot  that  memorizing 
may  be  worse  than  useless  when  carried  on  in  a  perfunctory 
manner.  As  a  result,  memorization  lost  the  position  it  had 
formerly  occupied.  But  educators  soon  began  to  observe 
that  the  adequate  development  of  the  memory  was  in  danger 
of  being  neglected;  so  the  memorization  was  modified  and 
resumed.  The  practice,  it  may  be  seen  by  referring  to  the 
programmes  in  Chapter  II,  is  today  obligatory  and  receives 
much  official  encouragement.  As  a  result,  one  finds  the 
pupils,  both  large  and  small,  carrying  on  the  work  to  a 
notable  degree.  They  learn  not  a  few  but  a  great  many 
poems,  and  perhaps  as  many  good  pieces  of  prose. 

There  is  nothing  unusual  in  the  order  of  procedure.  After 
the  pupil  has  thoroughly  mastered  the  general  sequence  of 
ideas,  he  learns  some  logical  division  of  the  selection  each 
day,  so  that  by  the  time  he  has  finished  the  reading  assign- 
ment he  is  in  possession  of  one  or  more  of  the  best  passages 
in  it.  Or,  if  he  is  studying  a  group  of  short  poems,  he  has 
learned  two  or  three  of  them  by  the  time  he  has  finished  the 
study  of  the  group.  When  a  pupil  is  called  upon,  he  is 
ordinarily  required  to  recite  the  entire  passage  or  poem,  so 
that  he  will  not  have  a  broken,  disjointed  impression  of  the 
author's  meaning.  In  these  memory  exercises  we  see  again 
the  tendency  of  the  French  to  fill  their  recitations  with 
well-directed  activity.  If  a  boy  mumbles  or  drones  — 
something,  indeed,  unlikely  —  the  teacher  finds  a  way  of 
stimulating  him  to  a  more  distinct  manner  of  expression;  if 


150     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

a  boy  fails,  some  of  his  keen-eyed,  wide-awake  classmates 
are  always  ready  to  take  his  place  and  try  to  do  better. 

One  finds  a  number  of  safeguards  against  the  danger  of 
mere  parrot-talk.  To  begin  with,  teachers  give  much 
thought  to  selecting  the  memory  passages.  They  have 
constantly  before  them  the  warning  of  the  Minister  against 
the  evils  of  careless  choosing: 

"  It  is  impossible  to  exercise  too  great  care  in  the  selection 
of  pieces  to  be  committed  to  memory:  for  a  long  time  they 
will  be  almost  the  only  intellectual  nourishment  of  the  child. 
It  can  be  seen,  then,  how  important  it  is  not  to  fix  in  his 
retentive  memory  anything  insignificant  in  meaning  or 
mediocre  in  form.  Assuredly  it  is  not  easy  to  find  pieces 
that  are  at  the  same  time  both  simple  and  interesting ;  but 
gradually  the  teacher,  in  the  course  of  his  reading,  will  bring 
together  a  collection  for  his  own  use,  although  this  will  not 
prevent  him  from  making  thoughtful  use  of  collections  pre- 
pared by  others.  The  essential  point  is  that  the  piece 
should  always  be  chosen  by  him,  and  chosen  because  it 
meets  certain  needs,  fulfills  certain  requirements,  of  which 
the  chief  one  is  that  it  should  be  understood  and  enjoyed 
by  the  pupils.  If  the  piece  is  short,  expressive,  and  clear,  it 
will  be  quickly  learned  and  easily  remembered."  x 

A  further  safeguard  is  to  be  found  in  the  full  explanation 
that  every  teacher  is  obliged  to  make  before  he  assigns  a 
selection.  As  was  pointed  out  in  Chapter  III,  no  teacher 
may  ask  a  pupil  to  write  down  anything  that  he  does  not 
understand;  and  the  prohibition  holds  in  memorizing. 
The  boy  must  know  what  he  commits,  so  that  his  memory 
will  retain  not  merely  words,  but  ideas.  Again,  the  exer- 
cise is  kept  alive  and  made  rational  by  the  numerous  ques- 
tions that  the  teacher  asks  concerning  substance  or  form. 

1  Instructions,  p.  66. 


READING  AND  LITERATURE  151 

Sometimes  he  stops  a  pupil  and  asks  him  to  explain  a  word 
that  he  has  just  uttered;  or  if  he  suspects  that  the  pupil  is 
not  visualizing  clearly,  he  plies  him  with  questions  about 
what  he  sees  in  certain  passages.  In  all  these  ways,  as  well 
as  in  many  others,  the  pupil  is  kept  from  mere  pronouncing, 
and  is  made  to  feel  that  reciting  from  memory  is,  in  truth, 
knowing  and  expressing  an  author's  meaning. 

It  is  remarkable  how  easily  the  French  boy  of  ten  or 
twelve  commits  to  memory;  and  it  is  even  more  remarkable 
how  well  he  retains  what  he  commits.  The  permanence  of 
the  pupil's  acquisitions  was  revealed  in  a  number  of  tests 
that  I  made.  For  instance,  when  I  went  to  a  lycee  one 
morning  to  visit  classes,  I  asked  a  teacher  if  he  would  give 
me  the  privilege  of  hearing  memory  passages  for  a  time. 
He  very  generously  offered  me  the  entire  period.  Different 
members  of  the  class  were  called  upon  to  recite  anything 
they  had  learned  that  year  or  in  preceding  years.  No  pupil 
recited  anything  that  a  classmate  had  already  given,  and 
yet  at  the  end  of  the  hour  a  great  many  were  anxiously 
waiting  with  poems,  parts  of  orations,  and  passages  from 
prose  narrative  or  from  plays  that  they  were  ready  to  recite. 
Occasionally  a  boy  remembered  imperfectly,  but  some  one 
was  always  ready  to  step  into  his  place  and  continue  the 
recitation  without  faltering. 

It  requires  very  little  reflection  or  imagination  to  see  how 
boys  and  girls  profit  permanently  by  memory  exercises  of 
this  kind.  They  catch  some  of  the  vision  of  great  minds; 
they  develop  a  just  sense  of  organization  and  form;  and 
they  acquire  a  feeling  for  the  use  of  individual  words.  They 
are,  then,  supplied  with  a  stock  of  ideas,  and  their  minds 
are  filled  with  the  echoes  of  language  in  which  ideas  may  be 
expressed  felicitously.  The  result  may  not  be  immediate, 
and  it   certainly  does  not   come  with   any  machine-like 


152     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

regularity  or  precision;  but  it  is  sure  to  be  evident  sooner 
or  later. 


IV.  THE   RELATION    OF   LITERATURE   TO   THEME-WRITING 

In  our  own  country,  the  problem  of  establishing  a  satis- 
factory relation  between  reading  and  writing  seems  to  be 
perennial.  We  never  cease  asking,  "  How  is  reading  to  be 
utilized  in  theme  assignments  ?  "  and  "  What  should  be  the 
relation  between  reading  and  the  pupil's  own  style  ?  "  If, 
now,  we  but  reflect  for  a  moment  on  the  character  of  the 
material  the  French  boy  reads  and  the  manner  in  which  he 
does  his  reading,  and  then  recall  the  kind  of  compositions 
which  the  older  French  boys  are  obliged  to  write,  we  ought 
to  gain  some  light  on  our  own  case. 

Let  us  consider  the  first  question:  How  is  reading  to  be 
utilized  in  theme  assignments  ?  In  so  far  as  the  French 
teacher  has  answered  the  question  for  himself,  he  believes 
that  the  reading  should  be  the  starting-point  for  thinking 
—  the  pupil's  own  thinking,  in  which  he  can  employ  the 
observations  and  facts  of  his  own  life  —  and  not  the  basis 
of  conventional  literary  criticisms  in  which  the  pupil  is 
forced  by  his  immaturity  to  write  in  the  threadbare  plati- 
tudes of  the  hour.  Turn  back  to  Chapter  III  and  run 
through  the  theme  subjects  drawn  from  literature.  Or 
glance  over  the  list  of  subjects  set  for  the  baccalaureate 
examination.  How  are  these  subjects  phrased  ?  In  what 
direction  do  they  send  the  pupil  as  soon  as  he  fixes  attention 
upon  them  ?  Observe  how  they  begin:  "  Reflect  upon  this 
thought  expressed  by  a  contemporary  author,  making  use 
of  your  observation  and  experience."  "  Jean- Jacques 
Rousseau  declared  that  books  were  the  instruments  of 
childhood's  greatest  misery.  ...  In  a  letter  to  some 
friend,  say  what  you  think  of  this  opinion,"  etc.     "  Victor 


READING  AND  LITERATURE  153 

Hugo  said  ...  In  the  poems  that  you  have  read,  recall 
the  influences  of  this  love  for  home  life."  "  Analyze  this 
extract  [from  Montaigne]  and  set  forth  (1)  Montaigne's 
theories  of  education;  (2)  the  characteristics  of  his  style; 
(3)  some  general  characteristics  of  the  Renaissance." 
Thus  the  assignments  run.  They  do  not  call  for  critical 
generalizations  which  it  is  impossible  for  any  boy  of  sixteen 
or  seventeen  to  make;  they  call  for  thinking,  for  concen- 
tration, and  for  the  marshaling  of  all  the  pupil's  experience. 
Now,  pupils  cannot  employ  material  in  this  manner 
unless  they  have  read  with  great  thoroughness.  If  they 
have  read  without  forming  the  habit  of  looking  on  all  sides 
of  what  the  author  says,  they  will  nnd  it  next  to  impossible 
to  write  upon  a  given  assignment  that  calls  for  thinking. 
If  a  pupil  falters,  mispronounces,  reads  words  that  are  not 
on  the  page,  leaves  out  many  that  are  essential  to  the  mean- 
ing, and  expresses  himself  vaguely  when  he  is  asked  to  give 
the  content  of  a  text,  he  will,  to  be  sure,  find  it  easier  to  fill 
a  few  pages  with  second-hand  criticism  than  to  reflect  upon 
a  specific  thought  or  a  group  of  thoughts.  But  he  will  do 
nothing  more.  A  boy's  true  critical  powers  develop  slowly 
even  under  the  most  encouraging  conditions.  It  is  only  the 
occasional  pupil  that  normally  possesses  much  ability  of  this 
kind  before  he  is  old  enough  to  leave  the  high  school,  or,  in 
France,  even  the  lycee.  His  life  is  made  up  of  snap-shot 
observations  and  impressions,  and  if  he  is  hurried  too  much 
in  trying  to  organize  these,  he  will  write  only  studiously 
conceived  nothings.  On  the  other  hand,  when  he  really 
knows  what  an  author  means  in  a  given  instance,  when  he 
sees  well  enough  and  understands  well  enough  to  know  what 
is  there,  he  is  likely  to  derive  genuine  pleasure  from  discuss- 
ing the  author's  opinions  or  from  finding  examples  of  similar 
opinions,  or  principles,  in  the  world  about  him.     He  sees 


154     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

how  an  author  looked  out  upon  life,  and  he  will  some  time 
come  to  understand  why  the  author's  observations  and 
reflections  have  been  so  universally  accepted  by  mankind. 
If  in  some  such  manner  he  does  not  develop  the  power  of 
grasping  an  author's  meaning  and  catching  the  flavor  of  an 
author's  style,  he  will  never  be  prepared  to  say  anything 
that  anybody  would  care  to  read,  or  that  he  himself  would 
care  to  write.  Recognition  of  this  fact,  supported  by  the 
conviction  that  young  pupils  normally  spend  most  of  their 
time  in  seeing  and  not  in  making  critical  classifications,  may 
be  said  to  account  chiefly  for  the  working  relation  that 
French  teachers  have  established  between  reading  and 
writing. 

Concerning  the  second  question,  the  relation  of  reading  to 
the  pupil's  own  style,  it  must  be  said  that  the  best  part  of  the 
influence  of  what  the  French  boy  reads  comes  not  through 
deliberately  arranged  meeting-points  of  literature  and  compo- 
sition, but  through  the  general  effect  of  the  reading  upon 
the  boy's  life.  From  his  earliest  youth  he  reads  something 
that  is  sound  and  clear  and  beautiful.  Not  only  that,  but 
in  the  earlier  part  of  his  school  career  he  is  carefully  writing 
down  in  dictation  exercises  a  great  number  of  the  best 
passages  from  what  he  reads.  And  to  these  influences, 
powerful  as  they  are,  must  be  added  the  memorization  of 
much  that  is  acceptable  in  substance  and  form.  Now  if  we 
but  bear  in  mind  that  the  pupil  is  writing  incessantly  while 
he  is  thus  engaged  in  assimilating  a  great  stock  of  good 
literature,  we  can  easily  see  how  his  own  style  must  profit. 
While  his  mind  is  quickened  through  much  writing,  he 
reads,  takes  dictations,  and  commits  to  memory.  His 
lessons  in  literature,  therefore,  become  so  distinctly  a  part 
of  himself  that  his  style,  without  ceasing  to  be  his  own, 
inevitably  takes  on  some  of  the  qualities  of  the  literature  he 
has  studied. 


CHAPTER  VI 

FOREIGN  LANGUAGES 

Even  in  our  utilitarian,  so-called  "  practical  "  country,  it  is 
ordinarily  taken  for  granted  that  the  pupil  of  the  mother 
tongue  profits  by  making  accurate  translation  of  foreign 
languages.  Generally,  too,  it  is  admitted  that  there  may 
be  other  advantages  in  language  study  aside  from  this 
value  of  translating.  These  need  not  be  dwelt  upon  here. 
The  purpose  of  this  chapter  is  to  point  out  briefly  the 
methods  employed  by  the  French  in  teaching  Latin  and  the 
modern  languages,  and  to  indicate  the  manner  in  which  these 
methods  and  the  teacher's  attitude  toward  foreign  language 
study  influence  the  pupil's  own  expression.1 

I.  LATIN 

In  spite  of  all  the  educational  changes  that  have  taken 
place  in  France  in  recent  years,  Latin  is  holding  up  exceed- 
ingly well,  although  Greek  receives  little  attention.  After 
the  greater  freedom  of  choice  that  came  with  the  adoption 
of  the  new  programmes  of  study  in  1902,  it  seemed  for  a 
time  that  Latin  would  be  lost.  The  subjection  in  which 
teachers  of  the  Classics  had  held  the  rest  of  the  educational 
world  was  so  great  that  when  liberty  came,  everybody 
wanted  to  take  full  advantage  of  it.      But  as  the  years 

1  The  history  of  foreign  languages  in  France,  the  programmes  of  study , 
and  classroom  methods  down  to  1905-06  have  been  treated  by  Professor 
F.  E.  Farrington  in  his  French  Secondary  Schools.  The  early  relation  of 
French  teaching  and  Latin  is  discussed  also  in  P.  J.  Hartog's  The  Writing  of 
English.  See  Appendix  (p.  245) .  The  historical  view  of  French  and  foreign 
language  study  is  interesting,  but  in  this  chapter  I  have  preferred  to  adhere 
to  the  results  of  my  own  observation. 

iss 


156     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

passed,  and  the  many  problems  growing  out  of  the  new  order 
of  things  began  to  solve  themselves,  the  conviction  grew  that 
Latin  was  still  important,  almost  essential,  to  a  Frenchman's 
best  training  in  the  mother  tongue.1  At  the  present  time, 
eleven  years  after  the  adoption  of  the  new  secondary  pro- 
grammes, Latin  is  generally  regarded  as  an  extremely  valu- 
able part  of  the  upper  years  in  the  lycee,  and  it  is  believed 
that  it  can  still  be  made  more  valuable.  Even  the  most 
enthusiastic  champions  of  the  modern  languages  are  quite 
firm  in  the  conviction  that  Latin  should  not  be  allowed  to  go 
the  way  of  Greek.  This  admission  on  their  part,  when  we 
remember  that  they  still  hold  a  grievance  against  the  Clas- 
sicists because  of  conditions  before  1902,  is  a  strong  argu- 
ment in  favor  of  Latin. 

A.   Classroom  Method 

The  classroom  exercises  are  clear-cut  in  character,  and 
they  are  enough  alike  in  different  parts  of  the  country  and  in 
different  schools  to  make  generalization  possible.  In  the 
beginning  classes,  there  is  nothing  especially  significant  to 
teachers  of  the  mother  tongue  save  that  the  pupil  has  the 
advantage  of  knowing  some  Latin  very  early  in  life.2  As 
soon,  however,  as  we  pass  from  the  elementary  classes  to  a 
class  in  which  a  text  is  read,  we  can  see  that  the  entire 

1  In  the  lycees,  the  per  cent  of  pupils  who  take  Latin  is  steadily  increasing. 
The  following  table,  published  in  V Action,  January  22,  1914,  shows  the 
increase  since  1908: 

1908  53-27  per  cent 

1909  53-76  per  cent 

1910  54-72  per  cent 

1911  56.29  per  cent 

1912  58.29  per  cent 

1913  60.61  per  cent 

2  The  pupil  begins  the  study  of  his  first  foreign  language  at  the  age  of  ten 
or  eleven,  or  even  at  nine,  according  to  the  course  he  means  to  pursue  and  his 
progress  in  the  first  years  of  school.    He  usually  begins  Latin  at  eleven. 


FOREIGN  LANGUAGES  157 

method  serves  immediately  to  give  the  pupil  a  better  work- 
ing knowledge  of  his  own  language.  Usually  the  lesson 
begins  with  a  recitation  of  some  memory  passage  that  has 
been  assigned  a  few  days  before.  Then  attention  is  turned 
to  the  reading  assignment  itself.  First,  the  teacher  calls 
upon  some  boy  to  read  the  Latin  text.  After  he  has  read, 
the  teacher  makes  such  corrections  as  may  be  necessary,  and 
then  asks  the  pupil  to  indicate  the  grammatical  or  rather 
logical  organization  of  each  sentence.  In  the  beginning,  he 
points  out  the  clauses:  first  the  principal  clause,  and  then 
the  different  subordinate  ones.  Next  he  indicates  the  exact 
function  of  the  different  clauses  in  the  sentence;  and  when 
he  has  done  this,  he  indicates  the  function  of  the  different 
words.  The  purpose  of  this  part  of  the  recitation  is  to 
make  the  pupils  understand  the  Latin  manner  of  thinking. 
When  the  pupil  who  is  reciting  has  thus  indicated  the  rela- 
tion of  the  parts  of  the  sentence,  he  turns  to  the  task  of  giving 
his  translation.  This  translation  is  not  in  its  final  form  a 
literal,  word-for-word  equivalent,  as  might  be  inferred  from 
the  close  analysis  of  the  text,  but  a  thoughtfully  made, 
idiomatic  French  version.  The  French  in  which  the  trans- 
lation is  phrased  must  be  just  as  acceptable  as  the  analysis 
of  the  Latin  has  been. 

The  reading  assignments  are  rather  long;  and  in  the 
recitation,  the  teacher  usually  singles  out  a  boy  and  pursues 
him  with  demands  to  read,  to  explain,  to  construe,  to  trans- 
late, until  he  has  satisfied  himself  beyond  doubt  that  the 
boy  understands  the  entire  assignment  and  can  turn  it  into 
creditable  French.  Then  he  pursues  five  or  six  others  in 
similar  fashion.  In  the  meantime,  the  remaining  members 
of  the  class  make  notes,  and  respond  when  the  boy  under  fire 
cannot.  Moreover,  in  some  classes  at  least,  every  boy  is 
required  to  be  prepared  with  a  written  translation.     Then 


158    HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

as  the  recitation  progresses,  he  revises  this  translation  until 
it  is  faithful  both  to  the  Latin  and  to  the  French. 

As  one  might  suppose,  the  work  in  the  highest  classes  is 
less  stereotyped.  The  notebook  of  words  and  syntax 
holds  a  smaller  and  smaller  place,  and  the  explication  of 
texts,  the  making  of  outlines  of  the  texts  studied,  and  the 
discussion  of  supplementary  matters  become  more  and  more 
prominent.  But  the  great  middle  period  of  the  course  is 
a  constant  drill  in  grammar,  —  the  grammar  of  the  pupil's 
own  language  as  well  as  of  the  Latin. 

I  have  never  taught  Latin,  and  my  study  of  the  language 
was  limited  to  a  course  ordinarily  covered  in  five  or  six 
years.  It  would  be  presumption,  then,  for  me  to  pronounce 
judgment  on  French  methods  of  teaching  the  subject,  even 
if  my  observations  had  been  more  than  incidental.  Two  or 
three  questions,  however,  came  to  my  mind  when  I  saw  the 
work  carried  on.  I  wondered,  for  instance,  to  what  extent 
memory  passages  in  an  ancient  language  should  be  required 
of  thirteen-year-old  boys.  The  rigidity  of  the  classroom 
exercises  caused  me  to  wonder,  moreover,  how  far  the  pupils 
relied  upon  help  from  parents  or  older  brothers  in  preparing 
their  lessons ;  or  how  much  they  employed  printed  transla- 
tions when  they  made  their  written  versions  for  class.  I  do 
not  remember  seeing  shelves  in  the  bookstores  filled  with 
uniformly  bound  translations,  or  other  "automobiles"  or 
"aeroplanes"  for  private  use;  but  I  suppose  they  exist. 
This  must  be  said,  however,  in  favor  of  the  French  method: 
the  classroom  procedure  is  so  exacting  that  a  boy  must  know 
some  Latin  for  himself ,  regardless  of  the  means  he  may  have 
employed  in  getting  it.  There  is  no  escape  from  the  gram- 
matical analysis,  the  careful  making  of  a  good  French  trans- 
lation, and  the  searching  grammatical  inquiry  that  precedes 
the  work  in  Latin  composition. 


FOREIGN  LANGUAGES  159 

B.  The  Dominant  Purpose  in  Teaching  Latin 

One  cannot  long  observe  the  French  method  of  teaching 
Latin  without  seeing  the  dominant  purpose  of  it  all.  It  is 
not  to  develop  a  race  of  Latin  specialists,  although  I  believe 
the  French  rank  reasonably  high  in  Latin  scholarship ;  and 
it  is  not  chiefly  to  acquaint  the  pupil  with  Latin  civilization, 
although  this  is  regarded  as  more  important  than  the  nice- 
ties of  scholarship.  The  chief  purpose  is  to  illuminate  the 
study  of  the  mother  tongue.  This  is  the  one  great  argument 
heard  on  every  hand  in  favor  of  Latin.  Teachers  some- 
times speak  about  the  educational  discipline  of  studying  a 
dead  language ;  they  sometimes  refer  to  the  ideals  of  Roman 
culture ;  but  they  cannot  speak  for  rive  minutes  about  Latin 
without  convincing  you  that  they  believe  its  real  value 
rests  in  its  influence  on  a  pupil's  own  speech  and  writing. 
"I  can  understand,"  said  a  teacher  of  Greek  to  me,  ''how 
you  Americans  might  get  along  without  the  study  of  Greek, 
or  perhaps  even  Latin;  and  although  I  love  my  own  subject, 
I  believe  it  would  be  possible  for  us  here  in  France  to  get 
along  very  well  without  Greek,  that  is,  the  study  of  the 
language.  But  Latin,  ah,  it  would  be  impossible  to  give  it  up. 
It  would  be  giving  up  a  part  of  our  own  tongue.  You  do  not 
have  to  sacrifice  so  much  when  you  put  Latin  aside.  Your 
relation  to  Latin  is  remote.  You  still  have  the  French, 
through  which  nearly  all  of  your  Latin  has  come  to  you.  But 
if  we  gave  up  Latin,  we  could  not  look  into  the  past  at  all. 
How  superficial  and  colorless  and  unintelligent  would  our 
boy's  notion  of  a  large  part  of  his  own  present-day  language 
be  if  he  had  no  notion  of  the  Latin  from  which  it  is  derived! 
And  his  habits  of  thinking,  too,  would  suffer.  Our  thought- 
order  is  largely  that  of  the  Latin;  and  our  whole  thought 
construction   and   our   natural   habits   of   expression   are 


160     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

Classic."  This  is  the  attitude  maintained  to-day  by  many, 
perhaps  most,  unprejudiced  Frenchmen.  Latin  is  impor- 
tant in  the  study  of  French;  therefore  Latin  should  be  kept. 

This  purpose  in  teaching  Latin  goes  far  in  justifying  the 
early  beginning  that  the  boy  makes.  He  does  not  begin  so 
young  as  he  did  formerly,  yet  at  the  present  time  boys  of 
eleven  are  studying  Latin.  This  early  beginning  may  have 
disadvantages;  if  the  making  of  great  Latin  scholars  is 
the  end  in  view,  it  certainly  must  have.  Yet  its  good  in- 
fluence on  the  mother  tongue  cannot  be  doubted.  The 
eleven-year-old  child  has  a  more  active  memory  than  the 
adolescent  boy  has,  and  as  a  result,  he  learns  conjugations 
and  declensions  and  vocabulary  not  only  with  greater  ease, 
but  with  greater  accuracy  and  surer  permanence.  He  learns 
his  Latin,  then,  early  enough  to  make  some  use  of  it  as  he 
advances  in  his  school  course.  There  is  no  waiting  till  he  is 
fifteen,  sixteen,  or  even  eighteen  years  old,  so  that  the  only 
influence  of  the  study  will  be  to  disturb  every  language  habit 
that  has  become  fixed  in  his  mind;  he  begins  while  his  mind 
is  plastic  and  unconsciously  assimilative. 

The  close  relation  of  the  study  of  Latin  and  the  study  of 
the  mother  tongue  is  perpetuated,  too,  by  the  fact  that  in  the 
upper  grades  of  the  secondary  school  system  the  teacher  of 
the  Classics  is  even  yet  to-day  the  teacher  of  the  mother 
tongue.  Very  recently  there  have  been  numerous  pro- 
posals to  have  the  teachers  of  the  modern  languages  take 
over  some  of  the  classes  in  the  mother  tongue,  but  the 
prospect  has  threatened  such  serious  disagreement  that  the 
teacher  of  Vergil  is  still  the  teacher  of  French  literature  and 
composition.  This  arrangement  has  sometimes  proved  a 
misfortune;  for  occasionally  a  teacher  has  been  so  thoroughly 
wrapped  up  in  his  Latin  that  his  teaching  of  French  has 
been  formal  and  heavy,  with  entirely  too  much  emphasis  on 


FOREIGN  LANGUAGES  161 

fixed  standards,  —  a  kind  of  instruction  that  may  easily 
result  from  the  continued  study  of  a  tongue  that  is  dead 
and  unchanging.  Furthermore,  one  is  sure  to  meet  some 
teachers  who  are  extremely  desirous  of  having  their  pupils 
reveal  their  Latin  erudition.  Occasionally  when  I  visited 
a  class  in  the  mother  tongue  and  asked  the  teacher  about 
the  influence  of  foreign  languages  on  a  boy's  speech  and 
writing,  he  would  immediately  spring  to  the  defense  of 
Latin  and,  by  calling  upon  members  of  the  class  to  give 
derivations,  the  history  of  words,  and  the  history  of 
idioms,  would  prove  before  one's  very  eyes  that  Latin  was 
infinitely  more  important  than  anything  else  in  the  school 
course.  But  because  of  the  increasing  influence  of  the 
modern  languages,  or  perhaps  merely  because  of  the  general 
educational  activity  in  France  during  recent  years,  teachers 
of  this  extreme  type  are  becoming  fewer  and  fewer,  and 
those  who  take  a  tolerant,  charitable  view  of  new  subjects 
and  make  of  Latin  not  an  end  but  almost  solely  a  means,  are 
becoming  more  and  more  numerous.  The  possibility  of 
having  Latin  pass  entirely  out  of  the  rank  of  important 
studies  after  the  adoption  of  the  new  programmes  of  1902 
quickly  stimulated  Latin  teachers  to  new  efforts  to  make 
their  subject  really  serviceable;  and  they  seem  to  be 
approaching  success.  In  any  event,  they  have  had  an  un- 
usual opportunity  to  work  out  the  most  effective  methods 
of  bringing  Latin  to  bear  upon  the  mother  tongue. 

Through  classroom  method,  then,  through  the  conscious 
purpose  of  Latin  teachers  in  teaching  the  subject,  through 
the  fact  that  Latin  is  taught  early,  and  through  the  further 
fact  that  Latin  is  almost  invariably  taught  by  the  teacher  of 
French,  the  subject  to-day  remains  a  large  factor  in  the 
pupil's  development  of  ability  to  write  his  own  language. 
Its  value  should  not  be  overmagnified,  nor  should  anyone 


162     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

understand  that  its  influence  is  operative  in  the  lives  of  the 
great  body  of  pupils  who  do  not  take  one  of  the  Latin 
courses  in  the  lycee,  or  the  still  greater  body  who  do  not  take 
any  course  in  any  secondary  school.  But  in  the  lives  of 
those  whose  influence  on  the  native  language  is  likely  to  be 
greatest,  it  is  and  probably  will  continue  for  a  long  time  to 
be  a  source  of  illumination  and  restraint. 

II.  THE  MODERN  LANGUAGES 

When  we  turn  from  Latin  to  the  modern  languages  and 
their  influence  on  the  pupil's  skill  in  his  native  tongue,  we 
come  upon  a  battlefield  where  very  recently  a  fierce  contest 
was  waged.  Not  yet,  in  fact,  has  all  the  noise  of  the  battle 
died  away. 

The  record  can  be  made  very  brief.  Before  1902,  the 
modern  languages  and  the  teachers  of  them  were  in  educa- 
tional subjection.  The  hours  for  recitation  were  often  few, 
the  time  allotted  to  pupils  for  preparation  was  decidedly 
meagre,  and  the  teacher's  general  standing  was  below  that  of 
the  teacher  of  the  Classics.  In  the  thorough  investigation 
of  conditions  that  took  place  in  1898  l  it  became  evident  that 
instruction  in  the  modern  languages  was  inadequate  to  meet 
the  demands  of  the  times;  and  when  the  new  programmes 
of  1902  were  put  into  effect,  the  teacher  of  these  lan- 
guages came  to  his  own.  He  had  more  pupils,  he  had 
more  hours,  his  work  was  accepted  as  having  greater  value 
than  it  had  formerly  been  supposed  to  possess,  and,  above 
all,  he  was  provided  with  a  method  distinctly  different  from 
the  method  employed  in  teaching  the  Classics.  This 
"  direct  method,"   however,   is  really  not  new;    it  was 

1  This  investigation  was  authorized  and  directed  by  the  national  parlia- 
ment. The  report  of  the  proceedings  has  become  a  very  important  document 
in  French  educational  history.  See  "  Ribot  Commission  "  in  Appendix 
(p.  244). 


FOREIGN  LANGUAGES  163 

accepted  by  the  Minister  of  Public  Instruction  as  early  as 
1828  as  the  best  method  of  teaching  Greek.1  But  its 
popularity  is  recent.  And  since  it  has  had  a  sudden  rise  in 
France,  since  its  effect  on  the  pupil's  use  of  his  mother 
tongue  has  been  warmly  debated,  since  it  has  been  modified 
in  some  respects  only  within  the  past  two  or  three  years,  and 
since  there  seems  to  be  much  likelihood  of  its  being  adopted 
widely  in  American  classes,  it  may  be  well  to  glance  at  the 
method  as  it  is  seen  in  actual  operation.  Let  us  see,  for 
example,  how  the  French  apply  it  to  the  teaching  of  English. 

A.  The  Direct  Method 

The  work  in  the  beginning  classes  is  a  very  active  kind  of 
conversation.  Inasmuch  as  the  boys  who  take  English  as 
their  principal  foreign  language  begin  the  study  at  the  age  of 
ten  or  eleven  —  sometimes  at  nine  —  this  general  activity 
is  well  suited  to  their  interests.  After  the  first  few  days  in 
which  the  time  is  devoted  exclusively  to  learning  the  names 
of  familiar  things  in  the  classroom  and  to  mastering  the  pres- 
ent tense  of  two  or  three  verbs,  conversation  is  almost  the 
sole  means  of  teaching.  Through  it  the  pupils  learn  the 
elements  of  pronunciation,  increase  their  vocabularies,  and 
fix  in  mind  the  essential  principles  of  grammar. 

"Will  you  come  to  the  desk,  Pierre  ?"  asks  the  teacher. 
Pierre  rises,  and  as  he  goes  to  the  desk  he  says,  "I  come  to 
the  desk." 

1  This  fact  was  brought  to  general  attention  through  an  article  by  A. 
Dutertre,  (pseudonym  for  a  well-known  Parisian  teacher)  in  Les  Langues 
Modernes  for  December,  191 1,  entitled  La  question  des  methodes  en  1828. 
The  Minister  sought  a  means  of  reducing  the  time  devoted  to  the  introduc- 
tory study  of  Greek.  Accordingly,  he  secured  information  from  a  great 
many  teachers.  Among  other  suggestions  was  one  that  embodied  the  essen- 
tials of  the  "direct  method."  To  this  the  Minister  gave  his  official  approval; 
but  before  the  recommendation  could  be  carried  into  effect,  the  Revolution  of 
1830  broke  out,  and  the  "direct  method"  seems  to  have  been  forgotten,  at 
least  officially,  until  well  toward  the  end  of  the  century. 


1 64     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

The  teacher:   "  I  give  you  this  book." 

Pierre:  "  I  take  the  book.     Thank  you." 

The  teacher:  "  Will  you  please  close  the  door  ?  " 

Pierre:   "  I  close  the  door." 

And  thus  the  conversation  runs  until  all  the  boys  in 
the  class  are  able  to  talk  about  the  familiar  objects  in  the 
room. 

When  the  teacher  wishes  to  introduce  new  words  or  to 
suggest  new  problems  in  grammar,  he  must  make  full  appeal 
to  his  ingenuity.  Perhaps  I  can  best  illustrate  by  taking 
some  material  directly  from  my  classroom  jottings.  In  a 
recitation  which  I  visited  early  in  the  school  year,  the 
teacher  wished  to  have  the  pupils  understand  the  use  of  this 
and  that,  a  and  an,  and  before  (in  front  of)  and  behind.  He 
first  asked  a  boy  to  go  to  the  bookcase  in  the  rear  of  the 
room.     "  Now,"  he  said,  "  bring  me  that  yellow  book." 

The  boy  took  the  book  from  the  shelf,  and  as  he  started 
toward  the  teacher  he  said,  "  I  bring  you  that  yellow  book." 

"  Stop !  "  cried  the  teacher.  "  That  will  not  do."  Then 
he  picked  up  a  yellow  book  from  the  desk  and  said,  tapping 
the  cover  of  the  book,  "  This  yellow  book,  but  (pointing  to 
the  book  in  the  boy's  hand)  that  yellow  book;  this  book,  that 
book." 

Immediately  all  the  pupils  saw  the  distinction  and  the  boy 
with  the  book  in  his  hand  said,  "  I  bring  you  this  yellow 
book  ";  and  then  on  his  own  initiative  entirely,  "  I  have 
not  that  book;  I  have  this  book." 

In  showing  them  the  distinction  between  a  and  an,  the 
teacher  called  upon  several  boys,  one  at  a  time,  to  write 
some  nouns  on  the  blackboard.     They  wrote: 

man  floor 

orange  aeroplane 

boy  teacher 

girl  apple 


FOREIGN  LANGUAGES  165 

Then  the  teacher  asked  a  boy  to  put  the  article  a  before  man 
and  to  supply  the  articles  for  all  the  other  nouns.  He  did 
not  succeed,  but  the  next  boy  supplied  all  of  them  correctly. 
Then  the  teacher  inquired,  "Why  did  you  put  a  before  man, 
and  an  before  orange  ?  "  The  pupil  did  not  know;  and  his 
classmates  could  not  help  him.  But  they  made  a  great 
number  of  trials  and  guesses;  and  when  their  interest  was  at 
its  height,  the  teacher  said,  "  In  English,  with  few  excep- 
tions, a  noun  that  begins  with  a  vowel  takes  an."  And  the 
boys  then  spent  two  or  three  minutes  making  tests  of  their 
own  to  see  that  the  rule  held  true. 

Later  in  the  recitation  the  teacher  brought  up  the  use  of 
behind  and  before.  To  make  the  distinction  clear  he  asked 
four  boys  to  stand  one  behind  the  other  on  the  floor  by  his 
desk.  "  Now,"  he  said,  "  Pierre  (the  rear  boy)  is  behind 
Jean."  Then  he  asked  a  pupil  to  tell  him  where  Jean  was; 
and  the  boy  replied  immediately  that  Jean  was  behind 
Andre.  And  so  with  the  next  in  the  line.  But  when  the 
teacher  asked  a  pupil  where  the  front  boy  was,  the  pupil  was 
puzzled,  because  he  saw  that  Ferdinand,  the  front  boy,  was 
behind  no  one.  Then  the  teacher  explained  that  Ferdinand 
was  before  Andre,  that  Andre  was  before  Jean,  and  that  Jean 
was  before  Pierre.  The  pupils  then  used  the  words  several 
times,  so  that  they  were  able  to  carry  them  away  from  the 
classroom  with  a  and  an,  and  this  and  that. 

As  the  year  progresses,  these  exercises  gradually  include 
reading  and  writing.  In  the  second  year,  the  reading 
lessons  and  the  studies  in  grammar  occupy  a  still  larger 
place.  By  the  time  the  boys  are  ready  to  enter  upon  their 
third  year,  their  conversation  has  begun  to  approach  the 
natural,  they  can  use  a  goodly  number  of  words  that  they  do 
not  find  in  their  immediate  environment,  they  can  write 
simple  sentences  with  some  ease,  and  they  are  acquainted 


1 66     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

with  the  fundamental  principles  of  English  grammar.  They 
read  many  simple  narratives  and  anecdotes  in  their  English 
camarade;  they  read  and  commit  to  memory  such  poems  as 
Longfellow's  Village  Blacksmith  and  Southey's  Bishop 
Hatto;  they  write  exercises  about  their  reading  lessons  and 
pictures;  and  they  are  able  to  frame  questions  about  their 
own  activities  and  the  subject-matter  of  their  reading. 
Frequently  the  teacher  will  call  a  pupil  to  the  desk  and 
request  him  to  ask  his  classmates  questions  for  five  minutes. 
He  must  exert  himself  to  think  without  delay  of  a  variety  of 
matters,  and  his  classmates  are  as  much  pressed  as  he,  since 
they  must  give  correct  and  intelligent  answers  at  once.  I 
sometimes  took  charge  of  classes,  and  was  often  amazed  at 
the  ability  of  boys  of  this  age  (eleven  to  thirteen)  to  think 
and  talk  in  English.  When  I  asked  them  questions  about 
reading  and  grammar,  they  usually  made  extremely  sensible 
replies;  they  could  write  such  possessives  as  boys'  hats, 
to-day's  work,  and  men's  coats  without  apparent  difficulty; 
and  they  used  the  principal  parts  of  such  verbs  as  sit,  lie,  and 
go  with  a  degree  of  accuracy  that  was  astounding  to  one  who 
devotes  a  part  of  his  time  each  year  to  the  reading  of  fresh- 
man themes.  When  I  gave  them  opportunity  to  question 
me,  their  eagerness  was  delightful. 

"  How  high  are  the  houses  in  New  York  ?  "  was  always 
one  of  the  first  questions.  Some  of  the  others  were :  "What 
is  the  most  beautiful  city  in  America  ?  "  "  Is  it  as  beautiful 
as  Paris  ?  "  "  Do  you  live  in  New  York  ?  "  "Is  Indian- 
apolis near  St.  Louis  ?  "  "Is  the  Mississippi  River  larger 
than  the  Rhone  ?  "  "  What  ship  did  you  come  over  on  ?  " 
"  Was  it  as  large  as  the  Titanic  ?  "  "Do  you  like  Long- 
fellow in  America  ?  "  (I  asked  the  boy  if  he  knew  any  of 
Longfellow's  poems,  and  he  stood  up  and  recited  The  Day  is 
Cold  and  Dark  and  Dreary  and  The  Village  Blacksmith) 


FOREIGN  LANGUAGES  167 

"  How  do  you  get  to  the  top  of  the  high  buildings  in  New 
York  ?  Does  it  not  take  many  minutes  to  go  up  in  a  lift  ?  " 
In  answering  this  question  I  used  the  word  skyscraper  and 
asked  the  pupils  if  they  knew  what  a  skyscraper  was.  After 
a  moment  of  thoughtful  silence,  one  little  fellow  said,  "  Oh, 
it  must  be  an  aeroplane."  He  knew  the  meaning  of  sky  and 
scrape.  Immediately  a  timid  little  fellow  asked,  "  Have  you 
aeroplanes  in  America  ?  "  "Of  course  they  have,"  said  one 
of  his  classmates,  looking  at  him  in  utter  contempt;  "  Wil- 
bur Wright  was  an  American."  In  this  manner  was  the 
time  taken  up  whenever  the  pupils  themselves  had  an 
opportunity  to  do  the  questioning.  Their  ability  to  ask 
questions  about  matters  concerning  which  they  were  anxious 
to  know  something  seems  to  me  to  be  the  surest  proof  of  their 
knowledge  of  elementary  English. 

In  the  third-year  classes  —  that  is,  when  the  pupils  have 
chosen  English  as  their  principal  foreign  language  —  more 
attention  still  is  given  to  grammar  and  to  the  careful  reading 
of  texts.  Just  as  in  a  lesson  in  the  mother  tongue,  the 
recitation  in  the  foreign  language  begins  with  an  exercise  in 
grammar,  which  is  followed  by  the  reading  proper.  The 
pupils  read,  and  if  they  do  not  read  well,  they  are  asked  to 
continue  or  to  reread  until  their  pronunciation  approaches 
normal  English  and  their  reading  really  expresses  the 
author's  meaning.  Then  the  text,  which  has  been  explained 
in  a  preliminary  manner  at  the  preceding  recitation,  is  dis- 
cussed thoroughly.  The  teacher  first  asks  different  boys  to 
explain  in  simple  English  the  general  theme  expressed  in 
the  lesson.  Then  he  conducts  a  searching  inquiry  to  learn 
whether  the  boys  have  understood  all  the  details.  He  calls 
for  the  meaning  of  individual  words,  for  the  principal  parts 
of  verbs,  for  adjectives  that  correspond  to  nouns  used  by  the 
author,  and  especially  for  the  antonyms  of  adjectives.    The 


1 68  HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

lesson  is  very  much  like  a  lesson  in  explication  in  the  mother 
tongue,  save  that  it  is  conducted  in  English  and  in  a  some- 
what simpler  manner.  And  in  the  higher  classes,  let  us  say 
fifth-year  English,  the  recitation  really  becomes  a  lesson  in 
explication.  In  the  study  of  a  poem  like  Enoch  Arden,  for 
example,  knowledge  of  the  story  as  a  whole,  knowledge  of  all 
the  individual  words,  the  ability  to  grasp  poetic  images,  and 
the  power  to  catch  the  full  spirit  of  the  poem  are  dwelt  upon 
very  much  as  if  the  text  were  French  instead  of  English;  and 
in  the  study  of  Shakespeare  very  much  the  same  method  is 
followed  in  English  as  would  be  followed  in  French  if  the 
plays  were  those  of  Racine  or  Moliere.  By  this  time  the 
pupils  know  English  well  enough  to  talk  with  considerable 
freedom  about  brinded  and  branded,  a  newt,  an  adder,  a 
nickname,  the  howlet's  wing,1  and  other  similar  questions  of 
language,  to  say  nothing  of  the  less  easily  explained  subject- 
matter. 

The  advanced  classes  are  strikingly  different  from  the 
lower  ones  in  at  least  one  significant  respect:  the  lessons 
include  some  translation.  In  the  lower  classes,  as  I  have 
already  explained,  the  mother  tongue  is  not  used  at  all  — 
unless  on  the  part  of  some  teachers  to  explain  a  grammatical 
distinction  that  cannot  be  made  clear  in  any  other  way  — 
and  the  original  intention  of  the  champions  of  the  "  direct 
method  "  appears  to  have  been  to  have  no  translation  in  the 
upper  classes.  After  the  method  had  been  in  effect  a  few 
years,  however,  it  seemed  wise  to  many  teachers  and  some 
inspectors  to  require  enough  translation  to  make  an  unmis- 
takably sure  test  of  the  pupil's  comprehension  of  the  text 
read  and  discussed  in  the  foreign  tongue.  Thus  it  happens 
that  in  actual  practice  to-day  the  teacher  of  the  advanced 
class  frequently,  if  not  usually,  takes  ten  or  fifteen  minutes 

1  From  a  lesson  in  Macbeth,  at  the  lycee  for  boys,  Marseille. 


FOREIGN  LANGUAGES  169 

at  the  end  of  the  recitation  period  for  the  translation  of  the 
day's  lesson. 

Everything  considered,  then,  if  a  working  knowledge  of  a 
foreign  language  is  the  end  sought,  the  "  direct  method  " 
must  be  regarded  as  efficacious.  The  pupil  talks  well;  he 
has  sufficient  knowledge  of  grammar  to  correct  his  own 
speech  and  writing;  and  he  reads  well  enough  to  catch  the 
spirit  of  the  literature  he  studies.  One  cannot  fail  to  be 
impressed  with  the  comparatively  good  English  that  boys  in 
different  parts  of  France  use  in  conversation;  and  when  one 
asks  them  where  they  learned  the  language,  the  reply  is 
almost  invariably,  "  In  school."  Many  boys  have,  of 
course,  spent  a  short  time  in  England;  yet  when  due  allow- 
ance is  made  for  these,  the  number  who  can  speak  English 
well  is  strikingly  large.  And  many  champions  of  Classical 
training,  despite  the  fact  that  several  years  ago  they  studied 
English  in  the  lycee,  always  call  upon  son  or  daughter  to 
write  the  letters  that  are  to  be  written  in  English,  and  to 
explain  the  difficult  passages  in  George  Eliot  or  Thackeray. 
Proviseurs  told  me,  too,  that  whereas  under  the  old  method 
the  best  the  boys  usually  did  was  to  read  some  English  fairly 
well  and  speak  it  not  at  all,  they  now  used  the  language  so 
well  that  business  men  sought  out  graduates  to  go  to  Eng- 
land on  important  missions,  since  they  could  not  only 
understand  but  could  be  understood  in  English.  It  is  true 
that  I  occasionally  met  educators,  even  teachers  of  modern 
languages,  who  believed  that  the  method  had  so  many  faults 
that  it  was  not  any  better  than  the  old,  or  at  least  was  in 
need  of  radical  modification.  These,  however,  were  com- 
paratively few;  and  so  far  as  I  was  able  to  observe,  the  only 
classes  in  which  the  method  seemed  to  be  more  or  less  of  a 
failure  were  the  ones  conducted  by  these  teachers  who  were 
out  of  sympathy  with  the  entire  plan  of  instruction,  and 


170     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

permitted  pupils  to  make  substitutions  of  French  whenever 
they  could  not  easily  express  themselves  in  the  foreign 
tongue.  The  teachers  who  were  able  and  most  conscien- 
tious were  in  favor  of  the  method,  with  such  modifications  as 
would  render  it  more  nearly  perfect;  and  many  of  them  were 
firmly  convinced  that  it  must  be  extended  to  Latin  if  Latin 
is  to  be  retained  permanently  as  a  vital  part  of  French 
education.1 

B.  The  Direct  Method  and  the  Mother  Tongue 

But  what  effect  has  this  method,  however  successful  it 
may  be  in  the  teaching  of  a  foreign  tongue,  on  the  pupil's 
speech  and  writing  in  his  native  language  ?  This  is  the 
question  of  moment  to  the  American  teacher  of  English;  and 
concerning  this  question  there  is  no  unaniminity  of  opinion 
in  France  to-day.  By  some  it  is  thought  that  the  method 
has  worked  absolute  harm  in  this  respect.  Their  argu- 
ment is  (i)  that  the  French  boy,  however  skillfully  he  may 
write  to-day,  does  not  write  so  well  as  he  did  formerly;  and 
(2)  that  the  falling  off  is  to  be  attributed  to  the  "  direct 
method,"  inasmuch  as  it  deprives  the  boy  of  most  of  his 
former  practice  of  translating  into  his  own  tongue  and 
obliges  him  for  one  or  two  hours  a  day  to  think,  speak,  and 
live  wholly  in  the  language  of  another  people. 

This  question  was  so  seriously  and  so  vigorously  discussed 
by  French  educators,  and  it  seemed  to  me  to  be  of  so  much 
importance,  that  I  took  it  up  for  study.  To  be  sure,  I  did 
not  expect  to  find  any  positive  proof  that  would  settle  the 
matter  for  all  time,  but  I  hoped  to  gain  some  light.  Accord- 
ingly I  visited  a  great  many  more  classes  in  English  than  I 
had  originally  intended  to  visit;    I  conferred  with  many 

1  One  of  these  teachers  had  taught  his  nine-year-old  daughter  to  converse 
with  him  in  Greek. 


FOREIGN  LANGUAGES  171 

teachers  of  the  mother  tongue  whose  pupils  were  taking  the 
modern  languages;  and  I  prepared  some  definite  questions 
and  submitted  them  to  the  teachers  and  school  officials  with 
whom  I  came  into  contact  from  day  to  day,  and  sent  many 
copies  by  mail  to  others  whom  I  could  not  see  conveniently. 
I  asked  (1)  whether  the  French  pupil  probably  writes  as  well 
to-day  as  he  did  twenty  or  thirty  years  ago;  (2)  whether  the 
decrease  in  skill,  if  there  has  been  any,  is  to  be  attributed 
to  one  or  to  many  causes;  and  (3)  whether  the  "  direct 
method  "  seems  to  have  had  a  pronounced  effect  on  the 
pupil's  ability  to  use  his  native  language. 

The  answers  revealed  a  variety  of  opinions.  Some  of  the 
persons  questioned  thought  there  was,  perhaps,  a  falling  off 
in  pupils'  ability  to  write,  but  that  the  change  was  due  to  a 
general  preoccupation  with  practical  matters  rather  than  to 
any  method  employed  in  the  schools.  Others  said  that 
there  had  been  some  change  for  the  worse,  but  that  the  social 
conditions  under  the  Republic  were  responsible,  in  that  they 
raised  the  standard  of  the  lowest  only  at  the  price  of  lower- 
ing the  standard  of  the  highest.  Still  others  who  believed 
there  had  been  a  deterioration  thought  the  "direct  method" 
partly  responsible.  They  held,  however,  that  with  correc- 
tions and  modifications  in  the  method  —  some  of  which  have 
already  been  made  —  the  objection  would  be  removed. 
A  few  thought  any  study  of  foreign  language  must  always 
be  dangerous  to  good  style  in  the  mother  tongue;  and  some 
of  these  quoted  Gladstone's  supposed  words,  "I  do  not  want 
to  study  French,  for  I  should  then  have  French  injected 
into  my  English."  Some  teachers  of  English  were  of  the 
opinion  that  the  "  direct  method  "  has  no  special  influence, 
either  good  or  bad,  on  pupils'  speech  and  writing;  that 
perhaps  the  old  method  of  translating,  when  well  directed, 
really  did  help;  and  that  if  its  passing  has  resulted  in  a 


172     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

loss,  it  is  to  be  made  up  by  the  teacher  of  the  mother  tongue. 
"  If  our  teachers  of  literature  and  composition  have  taught 
French  by  teaching  English  and  German,"  said  one  teacher 
with  a  bit  of  feeling,  "  let  them  now  find  a  way  of  teaching 
French  by  teaching  French."  Some  teachers,  some  school 
officials,  and  some  laymen  believed  that  pupils  to-day  write 
less  elegantly  and  in  some  ways  less  correctly  than  they  did 
thirty  years  ago,  but  that  they  write  with  more  vigor  and 
more  sincerity.  These  persons  had  no  fear  of  the  influence 
of  the  "  practical,"  and  felt  certain  that  if  style  is  changing 
unfavorably,  it  will  correct  itself  in  due  time.  One  man 
believed  that  the  "  direct  method  "  has  less  effect  of  any 
sort  on  the  mother  tongue  than  the  old  translation  method 
had,  since  under  the  new  method  pupils  are  not  obliged  to 
inject  the  foreign  language  into  their  own.  They  think  only  in 
the  foreign  tongue  while  they  are  in  the  classroom,  and  when 
they  turn  their  attention  to  subjects  that  call  for  thinking  in 
the  mother  tongue,  there  is  no  memory  of  a  confusing  jumble 
of  distorted,  half-translated  sentences  to  fill  the  mind.  And 
not  a  few  were  of  the  opinion  that  the  "  direct  method  "  has 
its  dangers,  but  that  it  is  so  thoroughly  superior  as  a  means 
of  teaching  the  foreign  tongues  that  it  ought  not  to  be 
abandoned  or  even  modified,  whatever  its  effect  may  be 
on  the  pupil's  French.  These  proposed  as  a  corrective, 
if  a  corrective  should  be  required,  that  the  pupil  devote 
additional  hours  to  the  study  of  French  literature  and  the 
practice  of  composition. 

From  a  great  variety  of  sources,  however,  came  one 
opinion  that  outnumbered  any  of  the  others.  It  was  that 
the  decline  in  the  French  boy's  ability  to  write  is  something 
apparent  rather  than  real;  that  the  good  pupil  to-day 
writes  just  as  well  as  the  good  pupil  did  twenty  or  thirty 
years  ago;  but  that  the  secondary  schools,  the  center  of  the 


FOREIGN  LANGUAGES  173 

discussion,  have  been  so  thoroughly  popularized  that  instead 
of  educating  the  chosen  few,  as  formerly,  they  must  now 
educate  everybody.  The  result  is,  then,  that  the  good 
pupils  seem  not  to  be  so  numerous  as  they  once  were.  The 
men  who  held  this  opinion  expressed  the  belief  that  it  would 
require  the  microscopic  eye  of  the  most  highly  trained  peda- 
gogical expert  to  discern  any  real  injury  resulting  from  the 
"  direct  method."  They  were  firm  in  the  conviction  that 
the  new  method  is  effective  in  its  immediate  purpose, 
and  many  of  them  believed  that  it  could  readily  be  devel- 
oped so  that  it  would  be  of  supplementary  value  to  the 
teacher  of  the  mother  tongue. 

This  opinion  seems  to  be  well  founded.  It  is,  of  course, 
too  early  to  say  what  direction  the  new  method  will  finally 
take  in  France,  since  it  has  been  established  only  eleven 
years,  and  is  still  largely  in  the  experimental  stage;  but  to  an 
unprejudiced  onlooker  it  seems  quite  premature  to  rule  it 
out  of  the  category  of  good  influences  on  the  mother  tongue. 
To  be  sure,  in  the  lower  classes  no  opportunity  to  profit  by 
translating  is  provided;  and  in  the  upper  classes  written 
translations  are  miraculously  rare,  while  written  exercises  in 
the  foreign  tongue  are  numerous.  Nevertheless,  the  method 
has  value.  The  pupil,  for  instance,  is  trained  in  thinking, 
and  good  thinking  is  valuable,  whether  it  be  done  in  French 
or  Chinese.  Then  there  is  the  inevitable  enlarging  of  the 
pupil's  vocabulary;  and  there  is  also  the  habit  of  seeing  and 
feeling  words  clearly  and  sharply.  Moreover,  such  mental 
activity  as  one  finds  in  the  foreign  language  classroom  can- 
not fail  to  contribute  to  a  literary  conscience.  Habits  of 
carefulness  in  choosing  words,  handling  sentences,  and 
analyzing  thought  may  not  influence  a  boy's  speech  very 
much  immediately,  but  if  they  are  well  established,  they  will 
some  day  have  their  effect. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  FRENCH  BOY'S  TEACHER * 

If  it  were  not  a  part  of  human  nature  ever  to  be  forgetting 
things  that  are  taken  for  granted,  I  should  not  make  the 
commonplace  observation  that  the  teaching  of  the  mother 
tongue  resolves  itself  eventually  into  a  question  of  the 
teacher.  It  matters  not  how  ingenious  a  body  of  educators 
may  be  in  devising  methods,  the  mediocre  or  weak  teacher, 
by  following  them  imperfectly  or  by  following  them  blindly, 
is  certain  to  remain  feeble  and  ineffective.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  capable  teacher  will  succeed  to  some  degree 
regardless  of  method;  he  will  soon  work  out  a  method  of  his 
own  that  will  serve  him  better  than  any  that  might  be  sug- 
gested by  another  person.  Nevertheless,  he,  more  than  his 
weaker  colleague,  profits  by  having  boundaries  fixed,  by 
having  general  direction  suggested,  by  having  ends  pointed 
out  clearly;  and  he,  in  turn,  in  spite  of  whatever  marked 
characteristics  he  possesses,  will  contribute  infinitely  more  to 
the  successful  application  of  any  method  than  will  a  teacher 
who  merely  fits  into  the  machine.     It  should  be  illuminat- 

1  This  study  was  made  frankly  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  teacher  of 
the  mother  tongue.  If  the  reader  is  interested  in  discussions  more  general 
in  purpose  and  more  documentary  in  character,  he  should  see  Special  Re- 
ports on  Educational  Subjects,  vol.  24  (See  Appendix),  and  the  two  books  by 
Professor  Farrington  also  referred  to  in  the  Appendix. 

I  wish  to  acknowledge  my  indebtedness  to  M.  Lucien  Lavault,  proviseur 
du  Lycee  Gassendi,  Digne,  for  valuable  suggestions  about  the  preparation  of 
teachers,  the  state  examinations,  the  duties  of  inspectors,  and  the  working- 
hours  in  the  secondary  schools,  as  well  as  for  his  careful  reading  of  the  earlier 
part  of  this  chapter  in  manuscript. 


THE  FRENCH  BOY'S  TEACHER      175 

ing,  then,  to  see  what  kind  of  teacher  presides  in  the  French 
school:  to  study  the  preparation  he  makes  for  his  profes- 
sion, to  understand  the  conditions  under  which  he  works,  to 
see  the  kind  of  man  he  is,  and  to  learn  something  about  the 
spirit  that  he  develops  in  his  classroom. 

I.  THE  PREPARATION  OF  THE  TEACHER 

The  course  of  purely  scholastic  and  academic  preparation 
required  of  teachers  in  France  in  either  the  primary  or  the 
secondary  school  system  is  likely  to  impress  an  American  as 
being  extremely  formidable.  The  months  and  years  are 
long,  the  study  itself  is  exacting,  and  the  entire  course  is  full 
of  examinations  conducted  by  the  national  government.  It 
is  true  that  the  great  demand  for  teachers  in  the  primary 
system  sometimes  forces  school  authorities  to  accept  men 
and  women  who  have  not  conformed  in  every  respect  to  the 
highest  requirements.  In  the  main,  however,  candidates 
to-day  fit  themselves  in  the  regular  manner  prescribed  by 
the  school  system  in  which  they  expect  to  teach.  For  this 
reason  it  is  possible  to  discuss  the  teacher's  preparation 
with  a  degree  of  definiteness.  The  general  purpose  of  his 
training  and  the  limits  toward  which  he  pursues  his  study 
are,  for  a  given  kind  of  work,  just  the  same  in  one  end  of 
the  country  as  in  the  other,  just  the  same  in  the  small  village 
as  in  the  large  city. 

A.  Preparation  in  the  Primary  School  System 

In  order  to  be  a  teacher  in  the  primary  school  system,  the 
candidate  must  first  complete  a  regular  course  in  a  lower 
and  higher  primary  school  or,  much  less  likely,  in  a  lycee.1 

1  Even  if  he  has  completed  a  course  in  the  lycee,  he  must  have  at  least  the 
brevet  elementaire  of  the  primary  system.  He  is  not  entitled  to  teach  in  the 
primary  system  simply  because  he  is  a  bachelier  from  a  lycee. 


176     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

After  he  has  completed  this  course  he  is  ready,  if  he  is  at 
least  sixteen  years  of  age,  to  take  his  first  important  exami- 
nation, the  passing  of  which  entitles  him  to  his  brevet  elemen- 
taire.  This  certificate  is  the  essential  minimum.  It 
matters  not  what  course  of  study  a  person  may  have  pur- 
sued, if  he  decides  to  teach  he  is  required  to  present  this 
certificate;  and  if  he  pursues  the  regular  course  outlined  for 
teachers,  he  must  have  it  when  he  seeks  admission  to  the 
normal  school. 

When  he  is  once  in  one  of  the  four  score  or  more  primary 
normal  schools  maintained  for  men,1  he  has  a  three-year 
course  before  him.  During  the  first  and  second  years,  his 
studies  are  purely  academic.  They  include  history,  one 
modern  language,  mathematics,  natural  sciences,  manual 
training,  agriculture,  and  much  study  and  practice  in  the 
mother  tongue.2  At  the  end  of  the  second  year,  the  student 
takes  another  state  examination  over  the  work  he  has 
covered.  If  he  fails,  he  is  dropped  from  the  school,  since  it 
is  not  thought  worth  while  to  train  a  teacher  who  is  ob- 
viously deficient  in  scholarship.  If  he  passes,  he  receives  a 
certificate  called  the  brevet  superieur,  which  admits  him  to 
the  third  year  of  his  course.  The  last  year  is  taken  up 
exclusively  with  professional  studies  and  such  complemen- 
tary work  as  may  help  to  give  the  student  general  culture. 
The  purpose  of  the  year,  according  to  the  official  pro- 
grammes,3 is  to  awaken  the  students  to  a  need  of  con- 

1  There  are  about  as  many  for  women. 

2  The  outline  of  the  normal-school  course  of  study  in  the  mother  tongue  is 
too  long  to  be  printed  in  the  body  of  this  chapter.  I  have,  however,  included 
a  translation  of  it  in  the  Appendix  (pp.  246  ff.).  The  reader  should  note  how 
the  work  in  grammar,  composition,  and  literature  is  related,  he  should  study 
the  pedagogical  directions  that  accompany  the  programmes,  and  he  should 
remember  that  this  course  is  for  grade  teachers. 

3  See  Programmes  d'Enseignemenl  des  E coles  normales  primaires  (191 2- 
i3)»  P-  57- 


THE  FRENCH  BOY'S  TEACHER  177 

tinuing  their  intellectual  development  after  they  leave  the 
school.  Consequently  practice  teaching,  pedagogy,  the 
elements  of  law  and  political  economy,  and  French  literature 
and  history  have  chief  place.  These  are  supplemented  by 
readings  and  lectures  on  subjects  designed  to  extend  the 
horizon  of  the  students,  so  that  their  special  knowledge 
shall  not  be  without  background. 

When  the  candidate  has  completed  this  last  year  of  his 
normal-school  course,1  he  receives  a  certificate  to  that  effect, 
and  is  then  ready  to  enter  upon  the  two  years  of  probation 
exacted  of  everyone  who  would  be  a  teacher.  If,  however, 
he  has  done  practice  teaching  in  the  normal  school  after  he 
has  passed  the  age  of  eighteen,  this  will  count  toward  meet- 
ing the  requirements  of  probation.  When  he  has  been  a 
probationer,  a  stagiaire,  for  two  years,  he  takes  the  examina- 
tion for  his  final  certificate  for  grade  teaching,  called  the 
certificat  d' 'aptitude  pedagogique. 

If,  however,  he  should  desire  to  teach  in  a  higher  primary 
school  —  and  this  school,  it  will  be  remembered,  is  much  like 
our  best  type  of  manual  training  high  school  —  he  must 
make  further  preparation  and  secure  a  special  certificate. 
And  if  he  wishes  to  become  a  candidate  for  a  position  in  one 
of  the  departmental  normal  schools  such  as  he  has  himself 
attended,  he  must  pass  a  competitive  examination  that 
entitles  him  to  enroll  at  a  special  normal  school  at  Saint- 
Cloud,2  and  complete  a  two-year  course  designed  to  fit 
him  for  normal-school  teaching.     Then  he  must  pass  an- 

1  Formerly  the  brevet  supSrieur  was  granted  at  the  end  of  the  course. 

2  The  corresponding  school  for  women  is  at  Fontenay-aux-Roses.  Singu- 
larly enough,  the  course  in  this  school  for  women  is  a  year  longer  than  that  in 
the  school  for  men.  In  Annuaire  de  la  Jeunesse  (for  1913,  p.  986)  it  is 
explained  that  theoretically  the  course  for  men  at  Saint-Cloud  is  three  years 
in  length,  but  that  educational  needs  and  the  exigencies  of  the  budget  have 
thus  far  made  only  two  years  possible. 


178     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

other  competitive  examination  before  he  is  entitled  to  a 
position. 

The  prospective  teacher  in  the  primary  system,  then, 
passes  through  the  lower  and  higher  grades,  the  higher 
school  that  corresponds  roughly  to  one  type  of  American 
high  school,  he  goes  three  years  to  the  normal  school,  and 
then,  perchance,  he  goes  to  the  special  higher  primary 
normal  school.  When  a  candidate  who  possesses  adequate 
native  ability  has  passed  through  this  entire  process,  or  even 
the  major  part  of  it,  there  can  be  little  doubt  about  his 
general  fitness  to  practice  his  profession.  And  there  can  be 
no  greater  doubt  about  his  special  fitness  to  teach  the  mother 
tongue.  He  must,  in  the  first  place,  pass  through  the  period 
of  dictation,  word-study,  grammar,  theme-writing,  general 
notebook  writing,  memorization,  and  explication  of  texts 
that  we  have  considered  in  the  preceding  chapters;  he  must, 
in  the  higher  primary  school,  become  acquainted  with  at 
least  one  foreign  language;  and  in  the  normal  school  he  must 
take  more  work  in  his  own  language  and  literature  than  in 
any  other  subject  save  pedagogy.  This  work  in  the  normal 
schools,  moreover,  is  very  good  in  quality.  I  visited  several 
classes  in  the  primary  normal  school  for  men  at  Paris,  and  I 
examined  a  number  of  the  notebooks  kept  by  students.  The 
teaching  was  exceedingly  well  done,  and  the  notebooks  were 
models  of  order  and  neatness.  These  normal  schools  con- 
tribute much  to  good  writing.  Furthermore,  in  the  numer- 
ous examinations  that  the  candidate  must  write  from  time 
to  time  along  the  way,  composition  is  regarded  as  extremely 
important.  If,  therefore,  we  believe  there  is  virtue  in  the 
study  and  practice  of  the  mother  tongue,  we  must  admit 
that  the  teacher  in  the  French  primary  schools  is  relatively 
well  prepared  for  his  work. 


THE  FRENCH  BOY'S  TEACHER  179 

B.  Preparation  in  the  Secondary  School  System 

In  the  secondary  school  system,  the  preparation  is  even 
more  comprehensive.  If  a  young  man  hopes  to  become  a 
teacher  —  and  the  preparation  of  a  young  woman  must  be 
in  its  larger  aspects  the  same  —  he  must  have  as  a  beginning 
a  bachelor's  degree.  In  other  words,  he  must  have  com- 
pleted a  course  in  the  lycee,  which,  we  remember,  carries  him 
approximately  as  far  as  the  end  of  the  sophomore  year  in  an 
American  college,  and  he  must  have  passed  a  state  examina- 
tion at  the  end  of  his  course. 

In  meeting  this  requirement,  he  must  take  the  regular 
preliminary  work  in  the  lower  grades  of  the  lycee,  and  then 
when  he  has  completed  the  first  cycle  of  his  course  proper,  he 
must  choose  for  the  remaining  years  one  of  four  groups  of 
subjects:  (1)  Latin-Greek,  (2)  Latin-Modern  Languages, 
(3)  Latin-Science,  (4)  Science-Modern  Languages.  After  he 
has  completed  this  work  up  through  the  First  Class,  the 
highest  regular  class  save  one,1  he  takes  the  first  part  of  his 
baccalaureate  examination.  If  he  passes,  he  takes  as  his 
last  year  in  the  lycee  a  special  course  either  in  mathematics 
or  in  philosophy;  that  is,  he  pursues  one  of  these  subjects 
as  a  "major."  Then  he  presents  himself  for  the  second  half 
of  the  examination.  If  he  passes  this  successfully,  he 
is  entitled  to  the  degree  of  bachelier. 

The  examination  for  the  baccalaureate  is,  so  far  as  one  can 
see,  wholly  free  from  personal  influence  or  prejudice,  and  it 
is,  all  in  all,  very  difficult.  Except  in  doubtful  cases, 
nothing  save  the  student's  oral  and  written  answers  to 
questions  is  considered;  and  in  the  doubtful  cases,  the  can- 
didate's record  in  the  lycee  is  taken  into  account  only  to 
ascertain  whether  there  might  have  been  any  special  circum- 

1  See  the  explanation  preceding  the  programmes  of  study  in  Chapter  II. 


180     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

stances  at  the  time  of  the  examination  to  prevent  him  from 
doing  normal  work.  The  applicant  is  examined  in  eight  or 
nine  subjects.  In  the  first  test,  he  has  three  hours  to  each 
subject  in  the  written  part,  which  regularly  covers  three 
subjects,  and  an  hour  for  the  entire  oral  part.  If  he  passes, 
he  takes  the  second  test  (mathematics  or  philosophy)  a 
year  later.  The  jury  consists  of  four,  five,  or  six  men,  part  of 
them  teachers  in  the  secondary  school  system,  and  part  of 
them  professors  in  the  university  located  where  the  examina- 
tion is  taken.  All  of  them,  however,  are  strictly  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Minister.  Perhaps  it  thus  comes  about 
that  juries  are  so  free  from  charges  of  unfairness  and  that 
they  maintain  such  an  uniformly  high  standard.  In  any 
event,  only  about  fifty  per  cent x  of  the  applicants  each  year 
are  successful.  So  if  a  prospective  teacher  finds  himself  one 
of  the  fortunate  half,  he  is  justified  in  having  no  little  respect 
for  himself. 

Theoretically  a  candidate  need  be  only  a  bachelor  in  order 
to  be  eligible  for  a  subordinate  position  as  a  teacher,  but  in 
actual  practice  one  is  rather  certain  to  discover  that  the 
holder  of  even  the  subordinate  position  is  a  man  who  has 
continued  his  study  and  become  a  master  (licencie).  And 
if  he  is  ambitious  to  become  eligible  for  the  best  positions 
and  the  best  salaries,  he  must  continue  his  study  until  he  is 
able  to  pass  the  examination  for  the  agregation.  This  ex- 
amination is  competitive,  and  usually  requires  three,  four, 

1  In  the  October  session,  1912,  the  proportion  of  successful  applicants  in 
the  different  groups  of  subjects  was  as  follows: 

Latin-Greek    45.6  per  cent 

Latin-Modern  Languages     45.1  per  cent 

Latin-Sciences 46.4  per  cent 

Science-Modern  Languages     41.8  per  cent 

(The  second  part  of  the  examination) 

Philosophy    51.6  per  cent 

Mathematics    54     per  cent 


THE  FRENCH  BOY'S  TEACHER      181 

or  even  five  years  of  preparation.  This  preparation  is  made 
in  the  superior  normal  school  at  Paris,1  if  one  is  so  fortunate 
as  to  win  a  scholarship  there,  or  it  may  be  made  in  the 
advanced  courses  of  one  of  the  universities,  or  by  private 
initiative.  In  any  event,  the  work  is  chiefly  academic  in 
character,2  although  a  certain  amount  of  practice  teaching  is 
required.  The  examination  is  always  searching  and  it 
covers  a  wide  field;  so  if  the  general  average  of  the  candi- 
dates in  a  given  instance  is  high  and  the  vacancies  to  be 
filled  are  few,  even  a  good  man  runs  the  risk  of  falling  short. 
Viewed  in  one  way,  the  procedure  seems  heartless,3  yet 
everyone  must  admit  that  it  is  largely  responsible  for  the 
high  standards  of  scholarship  and  general  ability  maintained 
among  French  secondary  teachers.  The  accepted  view 
among  the  French  is  that  if  the  nation  has  more  good  candi- 
dates for  secondary  school  positions  than  there  are  positions 
to  fill,  and  must  as  a  result  exercise  choice,  the  choosing 
should  always  be  made  among  those  at  the  top. 

Here  in  the  secondary  schools,  as  in  the  primary  system, 
the  breadth  of  the  teacher's  general  training  is  noteworthy; 
and  here,  even  more  than  in  the  primary  system,  is  the  train- 
ing designed  to  prepare  one  to  teach  the  mother  tongue.  In 
the  lycee,  we  have  already  noticed,  the  boy's  training  in  his 
native  language  is  quite  thorough.  It  must  at  least  give 
him  enough  general  knowledge  and  skill  to  enable  him  to 
write  well  in  his  baccalaureate  examination;  for  one  require- 
ment, regardless  of  the  course  he  has  pursued  in  the  lycee  or 
will  pursue  in  the  university  or  special  school,  is  that  he 

1  Since  this  Ecole  normals  superieure  became  a  part  of  the  University  of 
Paris  in  1903,  much  of  the  purely  academic  work  has  been  done  in  the 
regular  classes  at  the  Sorbonne. 

2  It  is  held  by  some  French  teachers  that  the  examination  is  too  exclu- 
sively academic;   that  experience  ought  to  count  for  more  than  it  now  does. 

3  I  knew  one  competent  teacher  forty  years  old  who  had  failed  repeatedly. 


1 82     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

prepare  a  good  composition  on  one  of  the  three  subjects 
assigned.  And,  as  was  pointed  out  in  Chapter  III,  this 
composition  is  generally  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  difficult 
parts  of  the  examination,  if  not  the  most  difficult  of  all. 
The  candidate  must  not  only  be  able  to  write  with  correct- 
ness, but  he  must  have  a  fairly  wide  range  of  knowledge,1  he 
must  be  able  to  think,  and  he  must  know  how  to  organize 
his  knowledge  and  thinking  quickly.  In  truth,  the  exami- 
nation is  so  exacting  in  these  respects  that  it  is  in  itself 
looked  upon  as  a  sufficient  reason  for  learning  to  write 
effectively.  From  the  early  years  of  a  pupil's  life  in  the 
lycee,  he  is  reminded  by  his  parents,  if  not  by  his  teacher, 
that  every  grammatical  error,  every  misspelled  word,  every 
careless  phrase,  every  feeble  sentence,  every  heavy  para- 
graph, every  lapse  of  memory  or  error  in  judgment,  will 
count  against  him  on  the  day  of  reckoning  when  he  seeks  to 
become  a  bachelier.  It  is  true  that  the  examination  may  in 
this  manner  be  overemphasized;  the  pupil  is  in  danger  of 
looking  upon  it  as  an  end  in  itself.2  Yet  when  one  bears  in 
mind  the  fact  that  good  habits  of  speech  and  writing  formed 
early  in  life  are  not  likely  to  fall  wholly  into  decay,  even  if 
the  cause  of  their  formation  has  ceased  to  exist,  one  may  see 
that  the  long  period  of  preparation  for  the  baccalaureate  is, 
in  spite  of  all  that  may  be  said  against  it,  a  tremendous 
influence  in  favor  of  good  writing  among  prospective 
teachers. 

Moreover,  the  candidate  for  the  profession  of  teaching 
who  wishes  to  gain  admission  to  the  Ecole  normale  su- 
perieure  will  probably  profit  by  some  very  good  instruction 

1  See  the  list  of  subjects  in  Chapter  III.  One  teacher  assured  me  that 
the  secret  of  passing  the  examinations  was  to  write  with  intelligence,  whether 
or  not  with  knowledge! 

2  I  believe,  however,  the  pupils  are  reminded  frequently  enough  that  they 
are  preparing  to  live  a  life  as  well  as  to  pass  an  examination. 


THE  FRENCH  BOY'S  TEACHER      183 

that  belongs  neither  in  the  regular  classes  of  the  lycee  nor 
in  the  university,  but  in  what  is  known  as  the  rhetorique 
superieure.  This  is  a  kind  of  post-graduate  course  that  has 
attached  itself  to  a  few  of  the  lycees  (for  boys)  at  Paris  and 
to  the  lycee  at  Bordeaux,  at  Lille,  at  Lyon,  at  Marseille,  at 
Nancy,  at  Poitiers,  at  Rennes,  and  at  Toulouse,1  to  meet  a 
demand  created  by  the  rigid  requirements  for  admission  to 
the  department  of  letters  in  the  superior  normal  school. 
The  history  of  these  rhetoriques  superieures  is  interesting, 
and  one  cannot  fail  to  wonder  what  the  systematic  French 
mind  will  do  with  them  eventually,  since  they  "  refuse  to 
classify  "  in  the  carefully  organized  educational  system  of 
the  nation.  It  is  enough  for  our  purpose,  however,  to 
know  that  in  these  courses  students  receive  excellent  train- 
ing in  the  mother  tongue.  It  scarcely  need  be  said  that 
whatever  writing  is  required  is  done  with  critical  thoughtful- 
ness,  for  the  competitive  examination  is  always  before  the 
student  as  an  incentive  to  his  best  effort.  The  study  of 
literature  is  likewise  more  serious  and  more  thorough  than 
the  work  in  the  regular  classes  of  the  lycee,  and  while  it  really 
corresponds  to  first-year  or  second-year  work  in  the  uni- 
versity, it  is  free  from  the  ultra-critical  spirit  that  sometimes 
prevails  in  university  classes.  It  is  the  opinion  of  many 
French  teachers  —  though  not  all  —  that  this  instruction  in 
the  mother  tongue  is  the  most  effective,  the  most  perfectly 
balanced,  to  be  found  anywhere  in  the  upper  institutions  of 
learning.  In  any  case,  its  effect  upon  the  secondary 
schools  of  the  land  is  considerable.  The  courses,  it  is  true, 
attract  comparatively  few  students;  but  these  are  the  very 
ones  who  through  their  positions  as  teachers  will  be  most 
influential  in  shaping  habits  of  speech  and  writing. 

1  Based  on  tables  published  in  1913. 


1 84     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

The  later  training  in  the  superior  normal  school  or  uni- 
versity is  likewise  well  suited  to  a  teacher's  needs.  If  he 
wishes  to  become  an  agrege  in  letters,  his  three,  four,  or 
more  years  are  sure  to  be  devoted  in  large  part  to  courses  in 
his  native  language  and  literature.  Furthermore,  he  spends 
many  fruitful  years  in  the  study  of  foreign  languages,  so 
that  he  has  a  wide  language  field  in  which  he  is  at  home  and 
at  ease.  After  such  training,  he  is  not  in  very  serious 
danger  of  being  embarrassed  in  his  own  classroom  by  feeling 
that  his  pupils  are  about  to  force  him  to  the  limits  of  his 
knowledge. 

Just  how  extensive  the  teacher's  training  actually  is  may 
be  seen  in  some  statistics  that  I  brought  together.  It 
seemed  to  me  as  I  observed  the  usual  method  of  preparing 
teachers,  that  it  would  be  illuminating  to  observe  how  per- 
fectly the  procedure  was  carried  out  in  specific  instances  and 
compare  the  resulting  preparation  with  that  of  American 
teachers  of  the  same  rank.  I  began  by  securing  information 
about  sixth,  seventh,  and  eighth  grade  teachers  in  cities  and 
towns  ranging  from  New  York  down  to  the  rural  county- 
seat  of  three  or  four  thousand  inhabitants.  This  informa- 
tion I  secured  from  the  superintendents,  who  were  asked  to 
select  teachers  that  were  really  representative  of  their  cities. 
Then  I  secured  similar  information  from  French  cities  and 
towns  of  corresponding  size,  that  is,  from  Paris  down  to  the 
smallest  town  that  supports  a  lycee.1  Of  the  total  number 
of  American  teachers  reported,  forty-four  per  cent  had 
graduated  from  high  school  or  some  private  school  of  equal 
rank  and  had  spent  at  least  two  years  in  a  college  or  normal 

1  Proviseurs  are  not  permitted  to  give  out  personal  information  about 
their  teachers  unless  they  are  authorized  by  the  Minister  to  do  so.  I  found 
it  necessary,  therefore,  either  to  ask  each  proviseur  to  secure  the  needed 
authorization,  or  to  have  the  individual  teachers  approve  in  writing  the 
information  which  the  proviseur  desired  to  give  me. 


THE  FRENCH  BOY'S  TEACHER      185 

school,  so  that  they  might  safely  be  regarded  as  having  the 
equivalent  of  a  lycee  education.  The  other  fifty-six  per 
cent  had  either  attended  a  college  or  normal  school  only  one 
year,  or  had  merely  graduated  from  a  high  school,  or  had  not 
finished  the  high-school  course.  As  to  university  training, 
a  few  had  gone  to  some  university  long  enough  to  make  an 
average  of  seven  days  for  each  teacher  reported.  In  con- 
trast with  this,  all  the  French  teachers  had  graduated  from  a 
lycee  or  other  institution  of  similar  rank,  and  their  ad- 
vanced work  in  university  courses  averaged  three  and  three- 
tenths  years  1  for  each  teacher.  It  is  useless  to  deny  that 
this  great  difference  must  reveal  itself  in  the  teacher's  grasp 
of  his  native  tongue.  And  the  difference  is  not  only  in  his 
direct  knowledge  of  his  own  language  and  literature,  but  in 
his  background  of  knowledge.  For  instance,  these  Ameri- 
can teachers  had  taken  in  high  school,  college,  and  univer- 
sity, an  average  of  four  years  2  of  foreign  languages;  the 
French  teachers,  an  average  of  seventeen  and  five-tenths 
years.  Now  I  am  well  aware  that  purely  academic  training 
does  not  in  itself  make  a  teacher,  but  if  other  things  are  equal 
—  and  we  shall  see  later  in  the  chapter  that  the  French 
teacher  is  not  deficient  in  good  personal  qualities  —  sound 
training  must  give  its  possessor  a  tremendous  advantage  in , 
carrying  on  his  work. 

II.  THE  TEACHER'S  POSITION 

A.  His  Relation  to  the  State 

A  teacher  who  has  been  admitted  to  full  standing  in  his 
profession  is  an  officer  of  the  French  Republic.  In  conse- 
quence, his  position  is  quite  different  from  that  occupied  by 

1  This  average  does  not  include  the  time  some  of  the  teachers  had  spent  in 
post-graduate  work  in  a  lycee;  that  is,  in  the  rhitoriqzie  superieure. 

2  That  is,  the  equivalent  of  four  year-courses. 


1 86  HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

a  teacher  who  may  be  employed  or  discharged  at  the  pleas- 
ure of  local  officials  or  local  politicians.  To  begin  with, 
the  official  relation  somewhat  restricts  his  activities,  al- 
though it  cannot  be  said  that  he  is  hampered  at  all  in  the 
discharge  of  his  professional  duties.  He  is  not  permitted, 
any  more  than  other  government  officials,  to  engage  in 
fundamentally  unpatriotic  practices  or  to  bring  seriously 
into  question  his  loyalty  to  the  nation  he  serves.  On  the 
other  hand,  he  is  protected.  As  long  as  he  is  competent, 
the  government  must  find  a  position  for  him.  If  it  does  not, 
it  must  pay  him  his  salary  anyhow.  Furthermore,  he  is 
protected  from  politics  and  petty  machinations.  He  did 
not  get  into  his  profession  through  any  political  "  pull,"  and 
he  may  not  be  dismissed  save  on  grounds  that  are  scrupu- 
lously meritorious.  To  be  sure,  local  conditions  may  make 
it  seem  wise  to  change  him  from  one  school  to  another,  but 
if  his  loyalty  to  France  is  unquestioned  and  he  is  a  compe- 
tent teacher,  he  is  assured  of  a  position  somewhere. 

B.  His  Standing  in  the  Community 

The  teacher's  official  character,  combined  with  the  fact 
that  he  really  won  his  way  into  his  profession,  goes  far  in 
determining  his  standing  in  the  community.  He  bears  the 
approving  stamp  of  the  national  government,  and  he  has 
shown  that  he  is  not  without  a  degree  of  intellectual  strength, 
for  has  he  not  passed  a  long  line  of  state  examinations  ?  In 
that  regard  his  standing  is  like  that  of  civil-service  physi- 
cians or  engineers  in  our  own  country.  His  neighbors  may 
not  like  the  profession  of  teaching,  and  they  may  feel  that 
the  school  is  not  accomplishing  what  it  should,  but  they 
must  admit  that  the  teacher  himself  is  a  man  of  some  attain- 
ments.    He  deserves  and  receives  respect. 


THE  FRENCH  BOY'S  TEACHER  187 

C.  His  Life  Within  the  School 

But  what,  one  may  ask,  is  the  teacher's  life  in  the  school 
itself  ?  Granted  that  he  commands  respect  from  his  fellow 
citizens,  does  the  school  system  make  it  possible  for  him  to 
do  effective  work? 

Doubtless  an  American  teacher  would  wish  to  know  first 
of  all  about  the  relation  of  the  teacher  and  the  head  of  the 
school,  that  is,  the  person  who  corresponds  to  our  superin- 
tendent or  principal.  Now,  in  order  that  the  French 
teacher's  position  may  be  understood  aright,  it  should  be 
fixed  in  mind  for  all  time  that  there  is  no  one  who  corre- 
sponds exactly  to  our  American  town  or  city  superintendent. 
The  proviseur  in  the  secondary  school  system  and  the 
directeur  or  directrice  in  the  primary  system  have  only  a 
part  of  the  superintendent's  duties,  and  these  are,  in  many 
respects,  those  duties  which  seem  least  important.  The 
proviseur,  who  seems  to  the  casual  observer  to  approach  the 
superintendent  in  official  capacity,  hears  so  many  com- 
plaints and  receives  so  many  visitors  that  he  might  well  be 
likened  to  a  grade-school  principal.  It  seemed  to  me  some- 
times that  making  small  "  adjustments  "  was  his  chief 
business.  Often  as  I  sat  in  the  waiting-room,  the  sound  of 
stormy  conversation  made  its  way  through  the  door;  and 
in  the  course  of  the  year,  as  I  waited  my  turn  to  see  pro- 
viseurs,  I  saw  scores  of  weeping  pupils,  and  almost  as  many 
angry,  weeping  parents,  emerge  submissively  from  the  inner 
office.  The  proviseur  in  the  smaller  lycee  has  a  personal 
acquaintance  with  most  of  his  pupils,1  and  every  proviseur 
seems  to  have  a  good  working  knowledge  of  his  school.  But 
his  official  relation  to  his  teachers  is  quite  another  matter. 

1  One  proviseur  in  a  large  lycee  told  me  he  was  grieved  to  think  that  he 
really  knew  only  half  of  his  twenty-two  hundred  boys. 


1 88     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

It  is  never  that  of  the  employer  to  the  employed,  but  rather 
that  of  a  skilled  business  man  toward  a  colleague  who 
through  the  necessities  of  trade  happens  to  be  a  scientific 
expert.  He  does  not  appoint  teachers,  or  make  recommen- 
dation that  is  equivalent  to  appointment,  and  he  does  not 
dismiss  them.  Given  a  certain  body  of  workers  —  and  it 
must  be  said  that  he  is  usually  provided  with  a  competent 
force  —  he  is  asked  to  smooth  out  the  rough  places  in 
administration,  bring  his  teachers  into  the  best  possible 
spirit  for  doing  good  work,  and  maintain  a  working  relation 
with  the  parents.  His  duties  may  be  summed  up,  I  believe, 
in  the  words  of  one  proviseur  who  has  been  very  successful: 
"  We  have  no  authority  except  that  which  we  assume,  and 
we  must  be  diplomats  every  day  and  all  day  long." 

The  teacher,  however,  is  not  free  from  accountability  to 
some  immediate  higher  authority.  This  authority  is  the 
body  of  inspectors  maintained  as  a  part  of  the  school  system. 
At  the  top  there  are  more  than  two  dozen  inspectors- 
general,1  who  cover  the  entire  country  for  the  Minister  and 
report  to  him  on  the  large  aspects  of  education.  Then  there 
is  in  each  of  the  eighty-six  departements  of  the  country  one 
academie  inspector  who  is  directly  responsible  to  the  recteur 
of  the  academie  of  which  the  given  departement  forms  a  unit. 
Of  course,  neither  the  inspectors-general  of  primary  educa- 
tion nor  the  academie  inspectors  can  give  a  great  deal  of 
attention  to  the  thousands  of  elementary  schools  in  the 
primary  system.  For  the  making  of  personal  observation 
and  personal  suggestion  in  these  schools,  each  academie 
maintains  a  force  of  special  primary  inspectors.  The 
teachers  are  directly  responsible  to  these  lowest  inspectors 

1  In  secondary  education  there  are  fourteen:  four  in  science,  seven  in 
letters,  and  three  in  modern  languages.     In  primary  education  there  are 

eleven. 


THE  FRENCH  BOY'S  TEACHER  189 

these  in  turn  to  the  academie  inspectors ;  and  these,  through 
the  recteur,  to  the  Minister,  who  holds  a  check  on  both 
teachers  and  inspectors  through  his  inspectors-general. 

This  inspection,  especially  in  the  primary  system,  is 
exceedingly  valuable,  not  only  because  the  teachers  receive 
many  sound  suggestions  when  the  inspector  makes  his  occa- 
sional visits,  but  because  the  mere  existence  of  a  well- trained 
inspector  is  stimulating  to  any  teacher  who  has  a  degree  of 
self-respect.  Here  is  a  man,  he  reasons,  who  is  seeing 
school  work  every  day.  He  knows,  therefore,  when  work  is 
well  done.  He  will  examine  my  record  for  the  year,  or 
some  part  of  the  year,  he  will  study  my  classroom  methods, 
he  will  test  the  progress  my  pupils  have  made,  he  will  see 
whether  I  have  carried  out  the  arretes  issued  by  the  Minister, 
and  his  report  will  determine  whether  I  receive  the  minimum 
or  the  maximum  increase  in  salary  next  year.  This  is  the 
attitude  of  the  teacher.  The  good  effect  of  inspection  is 
increased  too,  by  the  fact  that  the  inspector-general  is,  in  a 
way,  a  disinterested  observer.  Inasmuch  as  regular  pro- 
motion does  not  permit  him  to  remain  long  in  one  place  or 
have  charge  of  one  section  of  the  country  for  a  very  long 
time,  he  has  neither  the  desire  nor  the  opportunity  to  build 
up  a  "machine."  He  can  give  his  energy  quite  freely  to 
carrying  out  the  dictates  of  his  best  judgment. 

It  cannot  be  said  that  a  system  of  inspection  of  this  kind 
robs  a  teacher  of  his  individuality.  It  is  true  that  in  the 
secondary  school  system  the  academie  inspector  makes  rec- 
ommendations for  all  appointments,  and  that  in  the  pri- 
mary system  he  recommends  the  appointment  of  stagiaires, 
the  probationers  in  the  profession,  and  that  he  has  a  share 
with  the  prefet  in  making  out  the  roll  of  teachers  for  a  given 
departement.  Yet  there  is  little  opportunity  for  him  to 
make  a  mere  cog  out  of  a  teacher.    All  that  he  may  demand 


190     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

is  that  the  teacher  do  his  work,  and  do  it  well.  In  the 
manner  of  doing  it  the  teacher  makes  the  fullest  use  of  his 
own  individuality  and  his  own  ingenuity.  Even  in  the 
choice  of  textbooks,  the  teachers  themselves,  rather  than 
any  board  or  committee,  make  up  the  court  of  decision. 
Moreover,  when  a  given  textbook  is  pronounced  good  by 
teachers,  it  does  not  follow  that  a  certain  teacher  must  use 
this  one  book.  Instead  of  an  exclusive  adoption  there  is  an 
approved  list  from  which  a  choice  may  be  made.  It  is  not 
unusual  to  see  in  publishers'  catalogues  a  statement  that 
such  and  such  books  are  on  the  approved  list  in  the  city  of 
Paris  (or  some  other  city),  when  this  approval  seems  to  be  a 
good  advertisement  for  the  book  in  other  parts  of  the 
country.  The  teacher  is  not  unduly  restricted;  but  he  is 
made  to  feel  that  his  presence  in  the  classroom  must  pro- 
duce a  wholesome  and  permanent  effect  on  the  lives  of  his 
pupils. 

The  average  time  actually  spent  in  classroom  work  by  the 
French  teacher  is  materially  shorter  than  the  average  in 
American  schools.  In  the  lower  grades  of  the  primary 
system,  it  is  true,  the  hours  are  almost  as  many  as  in 
American  schools;  but  the  comparatively  few  hours  re- 
quired in  the  secondary  system  serve  to  bring  the  average 
down.  The  maximum  number  of  hours  is  fixed  by  law,  and 
depends  upon  the  subject  and  the  grade  in  which  the 
teaching  is  done.  In  the  mother  tongue,  for  example,  a 
teacher  of  a  class  that  corresponds  to  our  eighth  grade  is 
required  to  teach  fourteen  hours  a  week.  If  emergency 
arises,  he  may  be  asked  to  teach  not  more  than  two  addi- 
tional hours;  but  for  this  extra  time  he  receives  additional 
pay.  In  the  study  of  representative  groups  of  teachers 
referred  to  in  an  earlier  part  of  this  chapter,  I  found  that  the 
French  secondary  teachers  of  the  mother  tongue  in  what 


THE  FRENCH  BOY'S  TEACHER  191 

would  be  our  sixth,  seventh,  and  eighth  grades  actually 
taught  14.6  hours  a  week;  the  American  teachers  of  the 
same  grades  taught  26.2  hours. 

The  French  secondary  school  is  built  upon  the  conviction 
that  a  teacher  cannot  do  his  best  work  in  the  classroom 
unless  he  has  time  for  self-improvement  and  recreation. 
Moreover,  it  is  borne  in  mind  that  the  teacher  of  the  mother 
tongue  has  almost  innumerable  compositions  to  grade,  and 
that  he  must  do  this  work  with  some  degree  of  deliberation. 
He  has  plenty  to  do.  I  did  not  find  a  teacher  complaining 
about  the  discomforts  of  idleness.1  But  unless  he  chooses 
to  earn  additional  money  by  taking  some  private  pupils,  he 
may  have  several  hours  of  freedom  each  week.  And  best 
of  all,  this  time  is  really  his  own.  He  can  take  the  broader 
view  of  his  future,  and  if  he  does  not  wish  to  turn  at  once 
to  "producing  something,"  he  is  at  liberty  to  build  a 
deep  foundation  for  whatever  be  hopes  to  do  when  he  is 
thoroughly  mature.  Fortunately,  there  is  no  committee  on 
educational  weights  and  measures  pursuing  him  with  ques- 
tions about  what  he  works  at  before  breakfast  or  how  he  and 
his  family  spend  their  Saturday  afternoons.  The  organi- 
zation of  the  lycee,  moreover,  makes  it  unnecessary  for  him 
to  serve  on  many  purely  administrative  committees.  He  is 
expected  to  bring  full  knowledge  and  inspiration  to  his 
classes  and  to  direct  the  pupils'  work  effectively.  He  may 
do  more  if  he  chooses;  but  more  is  not  required  of  him. 

D.  Salaries 

The  salaries  of  French  teachers  are  not  high;  but  they 
are,  I  believe,  higher  than  they  are  usually  thought  to  be. 

1  One  school  official  told  me  that  he  believed  some  teachers  would  do 
better  work  if  they  were  required  to  do  more  teaching.  I  am  sure,  however, 
that  the  number  in  that  class  is  very  small. 


192     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

In  the  primary  system  the  teacher  receives  a  salary  proper 
ranging  from  noo  francs  (roughly  $220)  to  4100  francs 
($800);  he  is  provided  with  a  house  for  himself  and  his 
family,  and  the  law  specifies  in  detail  what  this  house  shall 
be;  and  if  he  lives  in  a  town  or  city  of  more  than  a  thousand 
inhabitants,  he  receives  what  is  known  as  a  residential 
indemnity,  ranging  from  100  francs  to  800  francs  according 
to  the  size  of  the  town  or  city,  to  offset  the  prevailing  higher 
prices.1  This  total  compensation  seems  wholly  inadequate 
when  it  is  viewed  in  relation  to  the  service  rendered;  for  the 
primary  teachers,  notably  in  the  middle  grades,  do  their 
work  with  great  faithfulness  and  skill.  But  when  one 
remembers  that  the  salary,  house,  and  residential  indemnity 
are  absolutely  certain,  and  that  the  teacher,  as  we  shall  see, 
receives  a  pension  when  he  is  too  old  to  work,  it  is  possible 
to  understand  why  he  continues  in  the  profession.  He  is 
not  quite  so  badly  off  as  he  at  first  appears. 

In  the  secondary  system  the  teacher  is  distinctly  more 
fortunate.  Salaries  for  teachers  in  full  standing  range 
from  4200  francs  (for  beginners)  to  6200  in  the  provinces, 
with  an  additional  400  in  Lyon,  Marseille,  and  Bordeaux; 
and  from  6000  to  9500  2  francs  in  Paris.  These  amounts, 
unlike  the  salaries  in  the  primary  system,  represent  all  that 
the  teacher  receives,  unless  he  does  the  hours  of  extra  work 

1  See  Pichard's  Code  de  V Instruction  primaire  (edition  of  191 2),  pp.  314 
ff .,  680  f .,  and  340  f .  for  the  schedules  of  salaries,  the  specifications  for  houses, 
and  the  scale  of  indemnities.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  present  European  war 
the  salaries  of  teachers  in  both  school  systems  were  the  center  of  much  dis- 
cussion in  the  newspapers.  Many  secondary  teachers  felt  that  they  suffered 
in  comparison  with  officers  in  the  army,  and  the  primary  teachers  complained 
of  the  system  of  promotion. 

2  Only  a  few  go  beyond  8500  francs.  Those  who  receive  more  than  this 
amount  are  called  hors  classe.  The  schedule  of  salaries  down  to  1910  may  be 
found  in  Wissemans's  Code  de  V Enseignement  secondaire  (edition  of  1910). 
There  have  been  some  increases  since  that  time. 


THE  FRENCH  BOY'S  TEACHER  193 

referred  to  in  a  preceding  paragraph.  But  inasmuch  as  the 
amounts  are  fixed  by  law  and  do  not  represent  any  fictitious 
scale  that  is  applied  only  in  a  few  special  cases,  the  teachers 
are  in  reasonably  good  circumstances  in  so  far  as  ordinary 
comforts  are  concerned. 

In  studying  the  representative  groups  of  teachers  already 
referred  to,  I  secured  definite  information  about  salaries. 
The  grades  studied  were  the  sixth,  seventh,  and  eighth, 
with  the  corresponding  grades  in  the  lycees,  and  in  every 
case  the  teachers  reported  upon  taught  the  mother  tongue. 
The  superintendents  were  free  to  choose  any  schools  in  their 
cities,  provided  only  that  they  reported  on  all  the  teachers 
in  a  given  school  who  taught  the  mother  tongue  in  these 
grades.  Although  the  salaries  received  by  teachers  in 
representative  New  York  City  schools  were  higher  than 
those  received  anywhere  in  France,  those  received  by  the 
French  teachers  in  the  smaller  towns  so  far  exceeded  what 
the  teacher  in  the  small  American  town  received  that  the 
average  for  the  French  teachers  was  actually  higher  than 
that  for  the  Americans.  For  the  groups  of  French  teachers 
the  average  was  $1094.50;  for  the  Americans,  $798. l 

It  is  true  that  a  comparison  of  this  kind  would  not  hold 
so  advantageously  in  favor  of  the  French  teacher  if  the 

1  It  is  amusing  to  hear  the  European  discuss  American  salaries.  He 
seems  to  believe  that  most  Americans  are  millionaires,  and  that  while  teachers 
may  not  be,  they  must  be  exceedingly  well-to-do.  One  writer  in  a  Paris 
daily  paper  recently  declared  that  American  secondary  teachers  received 
more  than  25,000  francs  ($5000)  a  year.  His  evidence,  I  learned,  was  the 
testimony  of  an  American  who  had  not  explained  to  him  the  difference  be- 
tween an  American  college,  included  in  a  university,  and  a  French  college, 
which  is  theoretically  the  same  kind  of  institution  as  a  lycee  but  is  really 
below  it  in  rank.  And  even  then,  how  many  American  college  teachers 
receive  $5000  a  year  ?  This  writer,  of  course,  did  not  know  that  the  average 
salary  for  teachers  in  a  large  number  of  small  high  schools  in  the  United 
States  is  scarcely  $600.  For  a  study  of  salaries  in  the  state  of  Indiana,  see 
the  School  Review,  vol.  21,  p.  446  (September,  1913). 


194    HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

classes  chosen  were  higher  in  the  school  course.  American 
high-school  teachers  usually  receive  larger  salaries  than  the 
teachers  of  the  middle  and  upper  grades  of  the  same  town  or 
city,  while  in  the  French  lycee,  above  the  elementary  classes, 
teachers  with  the  same  training,  experience,  and  success 
receive  the  same  salaries  regardless  of  the  grades  in  which 
they  work.  The  French  teacher,  however,  has  the  distinct 
advantage  of  knowing  that  his  salary  is  assured  year  after 
year,  and  he  is  saved  from  seeing  the  least  skilled  laborer 
receiving  a  wage  higher  than  his  own. 

The  teacher,  moreover,  always  has  a  higher  salary  held 
clearly  before  him.  His  promotion  may  not  be  rapid,  and  it 
may  not  carry  him  to  the  highest-salaried  class  of  all,  but 
some  advancement  is  sure  to  come.  If  he  shows  marked 
skill,  he  is  likely  to  receive  the  maximum  increase  in  the 
minimum  time.  If  he  is  just  a  good,  substantial  teacher 
without  special  ability,  the  increase  will  come  slowly  but  it 
will  come,  sooner  or  later.  The  inspector's  recommendation 
may  hasten  a  teacher's  promotion,  and  it  may  carry  him 
without  unnecessary  delay  to  the  highest  classification;  but 
some  advancement  is  provided  for  by  law  merely  on  the 
ground  that  the  teacher  continues  to  teach.  If  he  is  good 
enough  to  remain  in  the  service,  it  is  argued,  he  is  good 
enough  to  have  some  increase  in  salary  as  he  advances 
in  years.1 

E.  Pensions 

The  French  teacher  is  encouraged  in  his  work,  too,  by  the 
assurance  of  a  pension  at  the  end  of  his  active  career.  In 
the  primary  system,  if  a  teacher  has  been  in  active  service 
for  twenty-five  years  and  is  fifty-five  years  of  age,  he  retires 

1  In  the  secondary  system  the  proportion  between  service  and  the  recom- 
mendation of  the  inspector  is  fixed.  It  is:  service,  eighty-five  per  cent; 
choice  of  the  inspector,  fifteen  per  cent. 


THE  FRENCH  BOY'S  TEACHER  195 

on  a  pension  for  the  rest  of  his  life.  When  he  begins  to 
teach,  he  pays  into  a  government  fund  one-twelfth  of  his  ini- 
tial salary,  and  during  his  service,  rive  per  cent  of  the  salary 
he  receives  annually.  The  additions,  too,  in  his  successive 
promotions  are  subject  to  the  initial  tax  of  one-twelfth. 
Then,  when  he  retires,  he  receives  annually  from  this  fund 
one-half  of  the  average  salary  he  received  during  the  best 
six  years  of  his  career.  And  if,  in  addition  to  his  regular 
salary,  he  received  during  these  years  any  other  emoluments 
that  were  subject  to  assessment  for  the  pension  fund,  his 
pension  is  increased  in  due  proportion.1  In  the  secondary 
school  system  the  provision  for  pensions  is  in  all  its  larger 
aspects  the  same,  save  that  the  pension  is  based  on  the  last 
six  years  of  a  teacher's  service,  whether  or  not  they  are  the 
ones  commanding  the  highest  salary,  and  that  the  teacher 
may  not  retire  until  after  he  has  taught  thirty  years  and  has 
attained  the  age  of  sixty.2  In  either  system,  if  he  teaches 
more  than  the  number  of  years  fixed  by  law,  his  pension  is 
correspondingly  higher  when  he  does  withdraw  from  service. 
In  the  primary  system,  each  additional  year  adds  one- 
fiftieth  to  his  pension;  in  the  secondary  system,  one-sixtieth. 
In  both  systems,  too,  provision  is  made  for  pensioning  the 
widows  and  orphans  of  teachers.  If  a  teacher  leaves  a 
widow  who  was  married  to  him  at  least  six  years  before  his 
death,  she  is  eligible  to  a  part  of  his  pension;  and  if  for  any 
reason  she  is  not  eligible,  or  if  she  is  eligible  but  dies,  the 
teacher's  orphans  receive  the  pension  that  otherwise  would 
have  been  paid  to  the  widow. 

1  See  Pichard's  Code  de  V Instruction  primaire  for  the  full  text  of  the  laws 
here  summarized.  The  page  references  are  too  numerous  to  cite.  See  pp. 
899  ff.  (edition  of  191 2)  for  an  index  to  the  laws. 

2  See  Wisseman's  Code  de  V Enseignement  secondaire,  under  the  index  head- 
ing "Pensions  civiles,"  pp.  398  ff.  (edition  of  1910). 


196    HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

The  French  teacher,  then,  especially  in  the  secondary  and 
the  higher  primary  schools,  occupies  a  position  that  enables 
him  to  do  effective  work  comfortably.  He  holds  an  official 
position  that  is  important  in  the  eyes  of  the  national  govern- 
ment; he  teaches  in  a  system  that  is  at  once  exacting  and 
stimulating;  and  the  guarantee  of  an  income  for  life  if  he 
performs  his  duty  faithfully  enables  him  to  face  the  future 
with  a  degree  of  calm.  Certainly  he  may  not  be  a  "leading 
citizen"  whose  name  and  likeness  appear  prominently  in  the 
newspapers  every  day;  and  he  receives  little  of  the  nervous 
honor  that  is  bestowed  upon  the  man  of  public  affairs.  But 
he  is  enabled  to  take  the  larger,  longer  view  of  work  that 
such  a  comprehensive  subject  as  the  mother  tongue  insist- 
ently demands.  He  need  not  hesitate  to  make  thorough 
preparation  for  teaching,  since  thorough  preparation  re- 
ceives unquestioned  recognition;  and  he  may  use  his  own 
best  judgment  in  enriching  his  life  so  that  his  teaching  may 
become  more  and  more  effective  through  the  power  of 
stimulating  suggestion. 

III.  PROFESSIONAL  CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE 
TEACHER 

It  might  be  inferred  from  the  rather  wide  differences 
between  the  primary  and  secondary  schools  that  there 
would  be  two  fairly  distinct  classes  of  teachers  in  the  nation. 
In  most  respects,  however,  the  classes  are  not  sharply 
marked.  It  is  true  that  the  instituteur  in  the  lower  primary 
schools  frequently  wears  an  expression  of  grim  determina- 
tion to  hold  on  to  life  and  respectability  that  is  quite  in 
contrast  with  the  air  of  the  prosperous-looking  professeur  in 
the  secondary  schools ;  yet  so  many  of  these  differences  may 
be  observed  within  either  one  of  the  school  systems  that  it  is 
difficult   to   say   that   certain  professional   characteristics 


THE  FRENCH  BOY'S  TEACHER  197 

belong  exclusively  to  the  one  or  the  other.  And  the  dif- 
ferences that  do  exist  are  scarcely  noticeable  when  one 
compares  the  secondary  teachers  with  those  in  the  higher 
primary  schools.  Moreover,  the  younger  generations  of 
teachers  in  the  two  systems  seem  much  more  alike  than  the 
older  generations.  Whether  this  means  that  the  differences 
are  disappearing  or  that  time  and  the  heavier  hours  in  the 
primary  system  have  not  yet  had  their  full  effect,  I  do  not 
know.  But  even  where  the  differences  are  most  pronounced, 
the  important  characteristics  are  so  much  the  same  in 
both  systems  that  we  may  safely  consider  the  two  groups 
together. 

A  hasty  or  casual  view  might  lead  one  to  believe  that 
nothing  distinguishes  the  French  teacher.  He  goes  about 
his  work  with  so  much  of  an  air  of  doing  what  is  inevitable 
and  taken  for  granted,  that  one  is  in  danger  of  missing  the 
essential  strength  of  his  teaching.  Observation  in  a  large 
number  of  schools,  however,  is  sure  to  give  outline  and  dis- 
tinctness to  certain  characteristic  qualities  and  practices 
that  are  powerful  in  their  ultimate  effect  upon  the  pupil's 
mind. 

A.  Conscientiousness 

In  the  first  place,  the  fact  that  the  French  teacher  is 
distinctly  a  member  of  a  well-established  profession  gives 
him  a  conscientiousness  and  a  feeling  of  responsibility  that 
must  almost  inevitably  be  lacking  in  a  teacher  who  expects 
to  turn  his  attention  to  some  other  calling  after  a  year  or 
two.  Instead  of  being  a  young  man  who  very  studiously 
devotes  all  of  his  money  and  vacations  to  preparation  for  the 
practice  of  law  or  medicine,  or  the  pursuit  of  business,  he  is 
expecting  to  be  a  teacher  always.  "Here  I  am,"  he  says, 
"a  public  servant  engaged  in  a  responsible  calling,  and  I 
shall  follow  it  all  the  days  of  my  life.    I  must,  therefore, 


198    HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

make  myself  just  as  good  a  teacher  as  I  can,  and  I  must  do 
my  work  so  that  it  will  bring  me  promotion  and  professional 
credit."  The  more  remunerative  position  that  he  hopes  to 
merit  next  year  or  some  time  later,  the  plan  of  his  work  for 
next  term,  the  compositions  that  he  must  return  to  his 
pupils  to-morrow,  the  success  of  his  boys  in  their  state 
examinations  and  in  the  work  they  will  do  after  the  examina- 
tions are  over,  —  some  of  these  matters  seem  ever  to  be  in 
his  mind.  He  is,  too,  extremely  self-critical  and  likely  to 
minimize  the  effectiveness  of  his  own  work,  although  he  is 
singularly  sensitive  to  the  criticism  of  his  colleagues.  And 
once  he  has  established  his  educational  ideals,  he  clings  to 
them  with  religious  fervor.  It  is  for  this  reason,  I  believe, 
that  the  French  teacher  is  sometimes  understood  to  be 
dogmatic.  He  cannot,  however,  quite  be  charged  with 
dogmatism.  Dogmatism  usually  implies  either  insufficient 
knowledge  of  the  question  in  hand  or  an  unreceptive  state  of 
mind.  The  French  teacher  usually  thinks  seriously  about 
methods  and  aims  before  he  accepts  them,  and  he  is  quite 
open-minded,  as  some  of  the  sweeping  educational  changes 
of  the  past  few  decades  will  bear  witness.  But  he  is  not 
much  given  to  the  pursuit  of  fads,  and  he  does  not  throw  the 
old  aside  unless  he  is  convinced  beyond  doubt  that  the  new  is 
better.  His  state  of  preoccupation  is  usually  not  antago- 
nism to  things  proposed,  but  loyalty  to  something  already 
accepted  as  essential  to  the  success  of  his  labors. 

B.  Enthusiasm 

The  most  significant  of  the  other  characteristics  center 
about  the  teacher's  one  great  desire  to  create  in  the  pupil  a 
permanent  state  of  mental  activity.  He  is  an  enthusiastic 
teacher.  Faults  he  may  have,  sometimes  abundantly,  but 
he  does  not  suffer  from  a  passive  or  indifferent  attitude. 


THE  FRENCH  BOY'S  TEACHER  199 

Not  even  in  the  highest  classes  in  the  lycee  did  I  see  any 
teacher  droning  along  sleepily  and  dryly.  There  is  no 
feverish  haste,  yet  the  alertness  is  noteworthy.  The 
teacher  seems  to  believe  that  any  sin  is  less  grievous  than 
inactivity  and  dullness ;  and  he  sets  a  good  example  through 
his  own  enthusiasm,  his  own  apparent  delight  in  his  work. 

C.  Ability  to  Question 

Again,  the  teacher  seems  to  have  mastered  the  art  of 
questioning.  The  indolent  boy  who  does  not  catch  the 
spirit  of  the  classroom  when  he  enters  is  brought  quickly 
to  recognize  his  condition  by  means  of  the  questions  the 
teacher  is  almost  certain  to  direct  to  every  part  of  the 
room  at  the  beginning  of  the  hour.  It  should  not  be  under- 
stood that  the  recitation  is  wholly  questions  and  answers; 
there  is  textbook  study  and  there  is  abundant  explanation 
by  the  teacher.  But  in  the  course  of  a  recitation,  the 
teacher  succeeds  marvelously  in  asking  every  boy  several 
questions.  Sometimes  the  question  is  put  to  the  entire 
class,  and  then  some  pupil  is  called  upon  to  answer.  Some- 
times a  pupil  is  requested  to  rise  and  then  is  not 
only  asked  one  question,  but  is  pursued  with  many 
until  the  teacher  is  absolutely  certain  that  one  pupil  at 
least  has  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  lesson.  Fre- 
quently, too,  some  other  pupil  is  suddenly  called  upon  to 
make  corrections  in  a  classmate's  responses  or  to  catch  up 
the  train  of  thought  and  carry  it  farther.  Or,  again,  some 
pupil  —  or  perhaps  the  entire  class  —  is  by  means  of 
questioning  led  about  the  subject  in  a  way  designed  espe- 
cially to  encourage  reflection.  In  some  manner  the  teacher 
usually  puts  four  or  five  or  six  boys  through  the  more 
thorough-going  test  each  hour,  and  manages,  as  I  have 
already  said,  to  ask  the  other  pupils  enough  questions 


200    HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

to  prevent  their  minds  from  wandering  away  from  their 
work. 

Usually  teachers  insist  upon  immediate  responses.  When 
I  first  visited  classrooms  it  seemed  to  me  that  pupils  had 
not  time  enough  to  make  well-considered  replies ;  and  I  still 
feel  that  teachers  ought  to  ask  more  questions  demanding 
leisurely  reflection.  Yet  I  came  to  see  how  valuable  the 
rapid-fire  questioning  is  in  holding  attention,  developing  the 
power  of  using  one's  vocabulary  without  hesitation,  and 
fixing  important  knowledge  in  mind.  The  boy  must  see 
the  subject  from  all  sides,  and  he  must  exercise  the  power 
of  recalling  images  and  ideas.  He  is,  then,  immediately 
put  on  the  road  to  easy  memorizing.  He  is  encour- 
aged, moreover,  to  question  himself,  so  that  life  will  not  cease 
to  be  interesting  as  soon  as  his  teacher  is  out  of  sight. 
The  entire  procedure  is  at  once  stimulating  and  corrective. 
A  boy  is  encouraged  to  take  mental  exercise  —  and  this  the 
normal  boy  enjoys  —  yet  because  of  the  limitations  he  dis- 
covers in  his  own  knowledge,  he  is  kept  in  a  fruitfully 
humble  state  of  mind. 

It  must  be  admitted  that  the  French  teacher  is  aided  in 
developing  interest  in  this  manner  by  the  naive,  boyish 
kind  of  curiosity  that  is  characteristic  of  his  race.  This  is 
not  simply  the  intellectual  curiosity  supposed  to  belong  to 
intelligent  adults,  but  the  desire  to  look  upon,  and  perhaps 
marvel  at,  anything  that  is  in  any  manner  beyond  the  com- 
monplace. And  sometimes  one  wonders  if  the  commonplace 
also  should  not  be  included.  An  example  quite  apart  from 
teachers  and  schools  will  make  my  meaning  clear.  One 
morning  I  saw  a  crowd  of  two  or  three  hundred  people  out 
in  the  middle  of  a  boulevard  completely  surrounding  one  of 
the  tree  lawns.  I  supposed  that  an  autobus  had  collided 
with  a  taxiCab,  or  that  an  automobile  had  run  over  some 


THE  FRENCH  BOY'S  TEACHER  201 

pedestrian.  When  I  came  up  I  pushed  my  way  through 
the  crowd,  but  saw  nothing  save  two  or  three  feet  of  crushed 
wrought-iron  fence,  the  low  fence  surrounding  a  mound  of 
flowers.  I  learned  from  some  one  near  me  that  an  auto- 
mobile had  slipped  on  the  wet  pavement  earlier  in  the  morn- 
ing and  had  skidded  into  the  fence.  There  was  very  little 
talking  among  the  onlookers;  they  were  simply  gazing  in 
curious  wonder.  The  next  day  I  passed  again,  and  a 
crowd  almost  as  large  as  that  of  the  day  before  surrounded 
the  spot.  Workmen,  messenger  boys,  laundry  women, 
housemaids,  men  who  wore  high  hats  and  carried  sticks, 
and  smartly  dressed  ladies  stopped,  crossed  over  from  the 
sidewalk,  looked  for  two  or  three  minutes,  perhaps  asked  a 
question,  and  then  went  on  their  way.  On  the  following 
Monday,  I  chanced  to  pass  along  the  boulevard  again  and 
still  a  fairly  good-sized  crowd  looked  at  the  broken  fence. 
And  even  three  or  four  days  later  when  the  red  first-coat  of 
paint  on  the  new  section  stood  out  in  contrast  with  the 
black  paint  on  the  old,  a  cluster  of  men  and  women  stood 
looking  on.  This  curiosity,  usually  amusing  to  foreigners 
who  are  in  France,  and  usually  regarded  by  Americans  as  a 
distinctly  rural  characteristic,  unquestionably  helps  the 
French  teacher  whenever  he  unfolds  a  subject  so  that  the 
exercise  partakes  of  the  nature  of  exploration. 

D.   Skill  in  Incidental  Teaching 

Finally,  the  French  teacher  is  skilled  in  what  might  be 
called  incidental  teaching.  In  classes  corresponding  to  our 
first-year  or  second-year  college  courses  he  sometimes  lec- 
tures, and  in  the  lower  grades  he  ordinarily  uses  a  textbook; 
but  he  has  the  background  that  inevitably  makes  his  lec- 
tures informal  and  half  recitation,  and  draws  him  away  from 
the  hard,  unbending  plan  of  a  book.    His  training,  to  begin 


202     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

with,  has  provided  him  with  a  fund  of  reserve  knowledge 
that  makes  it  possible  to  turn  aside  from  the  fixed  path. 
He  need  not  feel  afraid.  Furthermore,  his  maturity  and  his 
teaching  experience  have  acquainted  him  with  most  of  the 
situations  he  will  probably  encounter  in  his  work.  How 
mature  he  is  likely  to  be  may  be  seen  by  referring  once  more 
to  the  comparative  study  I  made  of  groups  of  French  and 
American  teachers.  The  French  teachers  had  an  average 
of  21.3  years  of  experience.1 

Now  this  deep  background  of  knowledge  and  experience 
is  valuable  in  the  teaching  of  any  subject,  but  especially  in 
the  teaching  of  the  mother  tongue.  After  the  fundamentals 
in  either  composition  or  literature  have  become  thoroughly 
familiar  to  the  pupil,  it  is  not  only  deadening  but  positively 
ruinous  for  him  to  try  to  make  progress  simply  by  following 
stereotyped  directions.  The  teacher  must  make  comments 
to  supplement  the  good  counsel  of  the  textbook;  he  must 
make  pointed,  stimulating  suggestions  in  the  criticism  of 
papers;  he  must  illuminate  the  lesson  in  grammar  with 
comparisons  and  contrasts  drawn  from  his  knowledge  of  the 
historical  development  of  the  language;  he  must  make 
comparisons  with  the  literature  of  other  times  or  even  other 
peoples ;  and  when  he  takes  up  the  systematic  study  of  the 
text,  he  must  vitalize  and  color  the  outline  with  his  own 
spontaneous  observations.  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  every 
teacher  one  sees  in  the  French  schools  lives  up  to  this  ideal; 
but  the  comparative  fitness  of  most  teachers  to  offer  an 
abundance  of  incidental  instruction  must  inevitably  excite 
admiration. 

1  It  is  not  difficult  to  account  for  this  high  average.  (1)  Comparatively 
few  French  teachers  leave  the  profession  while  they  are  young.  (2)  The  popu- 
lation of  the  country  does  not  increase  rapidly  enough  to  demand  the  opening 
of  many  wholly  new  schools;  so  young  teachers  are  needed  only  to  fill 
vacancies. 


THE  FRENCH  BOY'S  TEACHER  203 

IV.  THE  TEACHER  AND  HIS  SCHOOL 

The  spirit  of  the  school  over  which  this  teacher  presides 
may  be  summed  up  in  three  words,  —  respect,  impartiality, 
and  seriousness.  The  respect  which  characterizes  the 
young  pupil's  conduct  is  so  deep-seated,  so  thoroughly  a  part 
of  school  life,  that  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  conceive  of  its 
absence.  The  teacher  does  not  hold  himself  aloof  from  his 
pupils;  he  is  sincere,  he  is  sympathetic,  and  he  is  generous. 
But  he  never  assumes  the  role  of  playfellow.  In  the  class- 
room, even  in  the  warmest,  most  spontaneous  discussions  in 
which  the  pupils  may  engage,  if  they  have  occasion  to  speak 
against  an  opinion  held  by  the  teacher  or  to  question  a  posi- 
tion that  he  has  taken,  there  is  usually  in  their  manner  clear 
evidence  of  the  fact  that  he  is  their  teacher  and  not  a  fellow 
pupil  or  some  friendly  acquaintance.  And  outside  the 
classroom,  the  same  spirit  prevails.  The  teachers  walk 
about  in  the  courts  where  the  boys  are  playing,  they  watch 
them  kick  footballs,  play  tennis,  or  roll  one  another  in  the 
gravel,  and  they  seem  to  enter  into  the  spirit  of  the  play. 
Yet  if  a  boy  thinks  of  something  about  which  he  wishes  to 
speak  to  his  teacher,  he  not  only  lifts  his  cap  when  he 
approaches,  but  he  shows  by  his  entire  attitude  that  he  is 
addressing  a  person  who  deserves  respect.  The  teacher 
seems  not  to  take  unfair  advantage  of  this  attitude;  he 
merely  takes  it  for  granted.  He  enjoys  association  with  his 
pupils,  he  takes  delight  in  their  progress,  and  he  sympathizes 
with  them  in  their  youthful  schemes  and  castle-building 
Moreover,  they  may  love  him  so  genuinely  that  they  will 
enter  a  spirited  protest  when  his  promotion  takes  him  to 
another  school.  Yet  the  bond  that  binds  them  is  never  that 
of  equals,  as  may  be  true  with  our  very  young  teachers  and 
very  oldest  pupils,  but  instead,  that  of  the  wise  man  and  the 


204    HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

inexperienced  youth,  —  the  inexperienced  youth  who  would 
get  wisdom. 

Quite  naturally,  this  respectful  attitude  is  not  so  pro- 
nounced in  the  upper  classes  of  the  lycee.  Young  men  of 
sixteen  or  seventeen  are  beginning  to  feel  their  importance 
to  the  world,  they  are  beginning  to  place  value  on  their  own 
opinions,  and  they  sometimes  consider  grievances  so 
seriously  that  they  resort  to  petitions  and  strikes.  Yet  in 
their  personal  relations  with  their  teachers  they  reveal 
surprisingly  little  of  the  attitude  of  condescending  tolerance. 
Either  through  youthful  choice  or  through  the  fact  that  their 
teachers  are  mature  men  who  will  command  respect  if  they 
do  not  receive  it  voluntarily,  they  prefer,  in  the  main,  to  be 
respectful. 

The  spirit  of  impartiality,  though  less  evident  upon  first 
observation,  is  equally  prevalent.  It  manifests  itself 
first  in  what  might  be  called  the  social  relations  of  the 
teacher  and  pupil.  Under  the  Republic,  the  teacher  is 
expected  to  have  no  social  favorites.  This  equality  of 
pupils  before  the  educational  law  is  illustrated  in  a  national 
statute,  nearly  two  decades  old,  that  makes  it  an  offense  for 
a  teacher  to  accept  gifts  of  any  sort  from  his  pupils.  The 
theory,  evidently,  is  that  there  must  not  be  even  a  suspicion 
of  favoritism.  But  this  ordinary  fairness  is  a  less  pro- 
nounced characteristic  than  the  larger,  less  definite  kind  of 
impartiality.  The  pupil  seems  to  be  living  in  an  atmos- 
phere that  is  constantly  bearing  in  on  him  the  fact  that 
however  much  he  may  be  mistreated  or  favored  elsewhere 
in  the  world,  here  is  one  place  where  he  is  measured  accord- 
ing to  unvarying  standards.  Perhaps  the  long  line  of 
examinations  conducted  by  the  national  government  helps 
to  give  the  school  this  tone;  a  timid  teacher  would  certainly 
be  sustained  by  the  assurance  that  any  fundamental  or 


THE  FRENCH  BOY'S  TEACHER  205 

extensive  favoritism  on  his  part  would  sooner  or  later  come 
to  light  in  the  work  of  his  pupils.  But  whether  this  be  in 
any  degree  the  explanation,  it  remains  true  that  the  boy 
accepts  the  situation  as  inevitable,  and  sooner  or  later 
comes  to  understand  that  if  the  standards  are  troublesome, 
it  is  he,  not  the  standards,  that  is  at  fault.  He  has  the 
abiding  satisfaction  of  feeling  that  in  school,  at  least,  his 
work  is  not  being  overestimated. 

The  one  characteristic  of  the  schools,  however,  that  im- 
presses an  American  more  deeply  than  any  other  is  serious- 
ness of  intent.  Even  in  the  lowest  classes  the  hours  spent 
in  the  schoolroom  are  serious  hours ;  and  they  become  more 
so  as  the  pupils  advance  in  the  grades.  This  seriousness  is 
not  gravity.  There  is  nothing  long-faced  in  the  life  of  the 
school.  The  boys  push  one  another  into  the  mud,  throw 
one  another's  hats  into  the  tree-tops,  wrestle,  fight,  and 
engage  in  all  the  other  activities  that  are  generally  supposed 
to  be  invigorating  and  wholesome  in  a  boy's  life.  Further- 
more, there  is  within  the  classroom  no  deathlike  quiet.1  In 
truth,  I  visited  many  classes  where  there  seemed  to  me  to  be 
unnecessary  noise.  And  when  I  returned  to  America  and 
had  occasion  immediately  to  visit  a  number  of  grade  schools, 
this  impression  was  deepened.  The  "order"  in  the 
American  schools  was  better,  and  such  movements  as  enter- 
ing the  room  after  play  or  going  to  the  gymnasium  or 

1  The  discipline  is  firm,  but  not  heartless.  "Won't  you  forgive  me  ?" 
asked  a  ten-year-old  boy  of  his  teacher  at  the  end  of  the  hour,  when  the 
teacher  had  punished  him  by  assigning  him  five  additional  exercises  for  the 
next  day.    "I  didn't  mean  to  be  a  bad  boy." 

"Well,  I  might  forgive  you,"  the  teacher  replied,  "but  you  see  we  had  a 
visitor,  and  you  disturbed  him  also." 

The  little  fellow  then  turned  to  me  and  asked  eagerly:  "Won't  you  for- 
give me  ?    Won't  you  save  me  from  five  hard  exercises  ?" 

"They  are  not  bad  boys,"  the  teacher  remarked  as  the  happy  youngster 
rushed  from  the  room,  "but  I  must  be  firm  with  them." 


206  HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

assembly  hall  were  executed  with  greater  precision  and  less 
disturbance.  But  there  was  also  less  work.  The  French 
boy  understands  that  he  is  to  do  something  of  some  con- 
sequence as  soon  as  he  enters  the  schoolroom.  Whether 
there  is  noise  or  not,  there  must  be  mental  activity.  Work, 
much  work,  much  more  work  than  the  American  schoolboy 
does,  is  taken  for  granted.  A  boy  may  be  slow  or  mis- 
chievous, and  for  one  of  these  reasons  fail  to  make  as  much 
progress  as  some  of  his  fellows,  but  while  he  is  in  the  class- 
room, whatever  his  ability,  he  must  have  his  mind  in 
motion  concerning  the  business  in  hand. 

This  spirit  of  work  is  increased  by  the  fact  that  school 
life  is  comparatively  free  from  distracting  influences. 
Outdoor  sports,  though  in  evidence  everywhere  and  though 
increasing  in  popularity,  have  not  taken  on  the  highly 
organized  character  of  American  interscholastic  and  inter- 
collegiate athletics.  Again,  the  presence  of  only  one  sex  in 
the  school,  that  is,  wherever  small  enrollment  or  some  other 
local  condition  does  not  make  coeducation  necessary,  gives 
the  pupil  in  the  upper  grades  more  time  for  thinking  about 
work  while  he  is  in  the  school  building,  and  it  saves  him 
from  the  mental  weariness  occasioned  by  scores  of  class 
parties,  surreptitious  automobile  rides  after  school,  and 
numerous  school  dances.  His  social  life  is  not  indissolubly 
woven  into  his  school  life  so  that  he  cannot  think  of  school 
without  thinking  of  party.  In  so  far  as  his  social  life  exists 
—  and  he  has  much  less  of  it  than  the  American  boy  has  — 
it  is,  in  the  main,  the  outgrowth  of  acquaintanceships 
formed  through  family  calls  and  visits,  family  receptions,  or 
other  relations  quite  apart  from  the  everyday  life  of  the 
school.  The  pupil,  then,  while  he  is  in  the  classroom  is 
certain  not  to  have  "society"  so  borne  in  upon  him  that 
he  finds  it  impossible  to  fix  his  attention  upon  work. 


THE  FRENCH  BOY'S  TEACHER  207 

I  would  not  have  the  reader  believe,  even  momentarily, 
that  I  have  forgotten  the  significance  of  a  wholesome  spirit 
to  all  school  studies.  But  as  I  have  already  pointed  out, 
the  teacher  and  the  tone  of  the  school  life  have  a  peculiarly 
strong  influence  on  the  pupil's  mastery  of  the  mother  tongue. 
Because  of  the  very  nature  of  composition  and  literature 
there  is  a  demand  that  the  teacher  have  broad  training; 
there  is  an  equally  insistent  demand  for  favorable  conditions 
under  which  to  teach  the  subject;  there  is  need  of  sound 
pedagogical  practice  and  a  sympathetic  nature  to  keep  the 
pupil  in  a  receptive  state  of  mind;  and  there  is  need  of  the 
most  rigid  insistence  on  high  standards  while  the  pupil  is 
forming  his  language  habits.  If  a  pupil  is  fortunate  enough 
to  have  a  teacher  who  is  not  only  well  trained  but  well 
fitted  personally  to  do  his  work,  other  subjects  will  profit; 
but  the  mother  tongue  will  profit  immeasurably. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

ORGANIZED  LANGUAGE  TRADITION 
I.  ORGANIZED  TRADITION  IN  FRANCE 

Among  those  who  do  not  hold  strongly  to  the  belief  that  the 
French  boy  writes  well  because  his  native  language  is  an 
exceptionally  perfect  medium  of  expression,  it  is  somewhat 
the  fashion  to  say  that  his  skill  is  due  to  good  language 
tradition.  As  far  as  it  goes,  this  explanation  is  sound;  but 
to  go  no  farther  would  result  in  a  serious  misinterpretation 
of  the  facts.  As  Brunetiere  has  pointed  out  somewhere,  the 
literary  classes  of  France  long  ago  recognized  the  possibili- 
ties of  influence  through  speech  and  writing;  and  they  set 
themselves,  accordingly,  to  the  task  of  making  their  native 
language  a  powerful  force  in  the  world.  Their  effort,  how- 
ever, might  not  have  resulted  in  a  permanent,  pronounced 
influence  outside  of  literary  circles  had  there  been  no  means 
of  disseminating  their  conviction  among  a  large  proportion 
of  the  French  people.  The  schools  served  as  the  necessary 
means;  and  during  the  nineteenth  century  when  the  educa- 
tional systems  were  developing  most  rapidly,  this  care  for 
language  that  had  been  cherished  before  by  a  part  of  the 
people  came  to  be  the  ideal  of  the  nation  at  large.  To-day, 
then,  despite  the  many  distractions  in  educational  life,  the 
French  schools  stand  as  a  deeply  established  safeguard  to 
the  better  use  of  the  mother  tongue.  The  so-called  dis- 
integrating tendencies  in  language  exist  in  France  as  in 
other  countries  of  the  world  just  now,  but  they  meet  with  a 
stronger,  more  perfectly  organized  resistance. 

The  effect  of  the  schools  on  language  tradition  is  not 
difficult  to  comprehend.    The  programmes  of  study  pre- 

?o8 


ORGANIZED  LANGUAGE  TRADITION         209 

scribe  a  course  that  requires  the  pupil  to  think  continuously 
in  the  field  of  language  and  literature  for  a  long  period  of 
years;  and  the  organization  of  the  educational  system  is  so 
close  that  there  is  little  opportunity  to  miss  any  essential 
part  of  this  course.  Then,  in  carrying  out  the  programmes, 
the  insistence  that  the  pupil  improve  his  vocabulary, 
master  the  mechanics  of  expression,  practice  observation, 
imagination,  and  reflection,  learn  to  organize  material  and 
criticise  his  own  work,  become  skilled  in  the  grammatical 
structure  of  the  sentence,  know  how  to  find  out  what  an 
author  says  and  how  to  read  an  author's  works  aloud, 
develop  the  memory  and  store  it  with  good  literature,  and 
strengthen  his  grasp  of  his  own  literature  by  accurate  study 
of  foreign  tongues,  —  the  insistence  upon  all  these  things  by 
a  teacher  who  is  well  trained,  not  only  in  academic  subjects 
but  in  the  art  of  teaching,  cannot  fail  to  be  instrumental  in 
maintaining  respect  for  language. 

As  was  pointed  out  in  Chapter  I,  the  strongest  evidence 
that  the  mother  tongue  in  France  is  relatively  safe  against 
what  we  vaguely  call  "the  modern"  in  education  is  the 
fact  that  nothing  can  be  proposed  that  seems  in  any  way  to 
touch  unfavorably  the  instruction  in  the  native  language, 
without  calling  forth  warnings  and  protests  against  a 
"crisis."  All  the  spirited,  often  bitter  discussion  between 
the  champions  of  the  Classics  and  the  champions  of  modern 
languages  and  science  during  the  past  decade  or  more  has 
been  in  very  large  part,  probably  even  in  the  main,  a  discus- 
sion of  whether  the  new  programmes  would  not  render 
impossible  the  highest  and  best  kind  of  instruction  in  the 
mother  tongue.  I  met  many  teachers  of  science  who  ex- 
pressed the  utmost  enthusiasm  for  their  subjects  who  yet 
declared  that  if  it  could  be  demonstrated  that  Latin  was 
essential  to  the  best  teaching  of  French,  then  they  would  be 


210    HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

unalterably  in  favor  of  retaining  Latin.  This  view  repre- 
sents the  seriousness  with  which  the  people  consider  the 
question  of  their  own  tongue;  and  it  indicates  a  small  part 
of  the  resistance  that  must  be  overcome  before  it  is  fashion- 
able for  the  French  boy  to  write  inaccurately. 

I  would  urge  again  that  I  do  not  wish  to  hold  up  French 
schools  as  being  admirable  in  every  respect.  They  might 
profitably  be  modified  in  a  number  of  directions.  The 
French  could,  moreover,  learn  much  about  some  problems 
in  education  (ventilation,  for  example)  by  studying  what 
we  have  accomplished  in  America.  But  one  thing  they 
have  done :  they  have  held  to  the  conviction  that  whatever 
else  the  school  should  stand  for,  it  should  be  the  exponent  of 
good  French.  The  organization  of  the  system  and  the 
character  of  the  instruction  given  in  the  schools  have 
together  borne  this  conviction  to  every  corner  of  the  country 
and  to  every  social  class.  It  may  be  seen,  then,  that  good 
language  tradition  does  not  merely  exist  as  tradition  in 
spite  of  some  vague  "spirit  of  the  times,"  but  instead  is 
organized,  made  not  only  defensive  but  positive,  through  the 
national  system  of  education. 

II.  THE  LACK  OF  ORGANIZED  TRADITION  IN  AMERICA 

When  we  turn  to  America,  if  we  consider  our  country  as  a 
whole,  we  find  that  tradition  in  favor  of  good  language  is 
very  feeble.  Moreover,  what  little  exists  is  not  thoroughly 
enough  organized  in  our  schools  to  make  its  perpetuation 
and  growth  unquestionably  sure.  We  are  so  young,  in 
truth,  and  we  are  so  busy  with  the  immediate  business  of 
subduing  a  continent  and  developing  its  natural  resources, 
that  we  have  little  intellectual  or  artistic  background  of  any 
kind.  As  a  consequence,  the  teacher  of  English  finds  his 
problems  extremely  numerous  and  difficult.    The  teacher 


ORGANIZED  LANGUAGE  TRADITION         211 

in  the  high  school,  for  instance,  must  not  only  deal  with 
the  very  definite  problem  before  him  in  the  shape  of  boys 
who  cannot  spell,  who  not  only  know  no  grammar  but  hate 
the  word  itself,  and  who  cannot  give  adequate  expression  to 
the  few  thoughts  and  vague  feelings  that  save  their  minds 
from  emptiness,  but  he  must  struggle,  and  he  must  help  his 
pupils  to  struggle,  against  the  overwhelming  flood  of 
incorrect,  inaccurate,  sometimes  absolutely  vicious  speech 
that  tyrannizes  the  community.  Every  day  the  pupil  in  the 
public  schools  probably  hears  scores  of  men  who  take  pride 
in  "butchering"  the  language,  and  who  regard  correctness 
or  elegance  of  speech  as  a  feminine  affectation.  Moreover, 
he  looks  about  him  and  sees  millionaires  who  say  "have 
went,"  he  hears  millionaires'  wives  say  "to  he  and  John," 
and  he  hears  ministers,  lawyers,  judges,  and  members  of 
Congress  say  "you  was"  and  "would  of."  So  when  he 
is  assured  from  the  desk  that  people  of  consequence  do 
not  disregard  established  grammatical  usage,  he  is  likely 
to  think  that  teachers  of  English,  as  well  as  grammars, 
are  only  unnecessary  hindrances  to  personal  liberty  and 
the  free  play  of  one's  intellectual  powers.  And  it  is 
not  wholly  improbable  that  he  will  find  some  justifica- 
tion of  his  views  in  the  expressed  doctrines  and  everyday 
practices  of  teachers  of  other  subjects.  Furthermore,  if  he 
should  move  to  another  school,  or  if  a  new  teacher  of  English 
should  come  to  the  one  he  attends,  he  would  encounter  so 
many  new  ideals,  and  so  many  new  grammatical  and  rhe- 
torical names,  that  he  would  be  convinced  beyond  question 
that  English  is  only  a  bugbear,  and  that  it  can  have  no  en- 
during importance  like  manual  training,  agriculture,  foot- 
ball, or  "school  spirit."  He  does  not  encounter  anywhere  an 
unyielding  conviction  in  favor  of  careful,  thoughtful  speech 
and  writing. 


212    HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

III.   ADJUSTMENTS  NECESSARY  TO  ORGANIZED 
TRADITION 

If,  now,  we  are  to  train  boys  and  girls  to  speak  and  write 
well,  we  must  do  more  toward  developing  a  literary  con- 
science and  we  must  fortify  it  by  making  our  schools  con- 
tribute directly  and  continuously  to  its  sensitiveness  and  its 
strength.  The  task  is  a  great  one;  but  we  can  perform  it  if 
we  undertake  it  with  high  seriousness,  unselfishness,  and 
patience.  There  is  nothing  in  the  character  of  what  the 
French  have  done  that  we  cannot  do.  They  have  chosen 
to  be  influential  through  their  speech  and  writing.  We, 
down  to  the  present  time,  have  chosen  to  be  influential  in 
other  ways.  In  our  rapid  commercial  development  we  have 
needed  typewriters,  and  we  have  built  the  best  ones  in  the 
world;  we  have  had  strong  business  competition  in  the 
making  of  textbooks,  and  these,  from  a  mechanical  or  artis- 
tic point  of  view,  are  beyond  comparison  with  the  textbooks 
of  other  countries ;  we  have  needed  libraries  and  stupendous 
railway  stations,  and  into  some  of  these  we  have  put  the 
best  architecture  of  the  age.  We  are  not  without  any 
essential  aptitude  that  may  be  necessary  in  learning  to 
write;  and  we  shall  learn,  at  least  to  write  with  reasonable 
correctness  and  a  degree  of  force,  as  soon  as  we  turn  our 
energy  in  that  direction. 

In  order  to  make  real  progress  in  the  teaching  of  the 
mother  tongue,  we  must  begin  on  solid,  open  ground.  We 
must  accept  the  situation  as  it  is,  we  must  make  no  effort  to 
conceal  or  disguise  its  less  agreeable  aspects,  and  we  must 
set  about  the  solution  of  our  many  problems  with  minds 
that  are  open  and  free  from  pedagogical  hypocrisy.  Every 
teacher,  too,  must  be  willing  to  bear  his  share  of  the  respon- 
sibility for  conditions  as  they  exist  to-day,  or  may  exist 


ORGANIZED  LANGUAGE  TRADITION  213 

to-morrow.  This  is  difficult.  We  seem  to  be  in  the  grip  of 
a  national  malady  that  drives  us  to  attribute  undesirable 
results  of  every  kind  to  causes  that  are  beyond  our  control. 
Railroad  wrecks  grow  out  of  the  negligence  of  the  engineer 
who  was  killed;  bad  schools  are  the  result  of  bad  homes; 
and  bad  writing  is  caused  by  some  lower-grade  teacher's 
negative  influence  —  which,  of  course,  cannot  now  be 
changed  —  or  possibly  by  some  singular  neglect  on  the  part 
of  the  Creator.  Now,  if  we  are  unable  to  meet  our  prob- 
lems squarely,  or  if  we  are  unwilling  to  believe  that  condi- 
tions can  actually  be  made  better  by  conscientious  struggle, 
we  ought  to  resign  as  teachers  of  English,  for  we  are 
securing  money  under  false  pretenses.  We  must  welcome 
the  opportunity  to  labor,  and  we  must  welcome  any  sug- 
gestion whatever  that  will  make  our  labor  more  effective. 

A.    In  Our  Educational  System 

The  first  adjustment  that  suggests  itself,  though  not  the 
one  that  seems  to  touch  the  writing  of  English  most  in- 
timately, is  in  the  organization  of  our  school  system.  Our 
schools  are  not  organized  to  make  good  work  in  English 
easily  possible.  To  begin  with,  the  present  rigid  division 
into  grade  school,  high  school,  and  college,  with  each 
exercising  such  large  liberty  that  it  may  almost  be  said  to 
disregard  the  others,  is  not  designed  to  secure  the  cooper- 
ation necessary  in  presenting  such  a  delicately  balanced 
group  of  subjects  as  constitute  the  course  in  the  mother 
tongue.  It  does  not  contribute  to  good  language  habits. 
Instead  of  complete  understanding  and  complete  sympathy 
among  all  the  teachers  that  a  boy  works  under  from  the 
time  he  enters  school  until  he  is  a  college  graduate,  or  even  a 
college  freshman,  there  is  usually  a  spirit  of  narrow  inde- 
pendence, and  quite  frequently,  an  attitude  of  open  antago- 


214     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

nism.  The  grade-school  teacher  says  the  high-school 
teacher  forgets  that  it  is  necessary  to  meet  the  needs  of  the 
boy  who  drops  out  of  school  at  the  end  of  the  eighth  grade; 
the  high-school  teacher  lays  his  pupils'  sins  at  the  door  of 
the  grade  teacher,  and  then  talks  about  the  "  domination  " 
of  the  colleges;  and  the  college  teacher  in  his  turn  looks 
with  scorn  on  high  schools  that  graduate  boys  who  cannot 
really  be  said  to  speak  or  write  the  English  language. 

Added  to  this  confusion  is  the  serious  difficulty  that 
results  from  trying  to  put  all  pupils,  regardless  of  their 
aptitudes,  their  interests,  or  their  purpose  in  going  to  school, 
into  one  rigid  course  of  study.  This  is  not  done,  to  be  sure, 
in  the  larger,  better-equipped  high  schools,  but  it  is  done  in 
the  smaller  high  schools  and  in  most  grade  schools.  There 
is  no  adequate  provision,  such  as  the  French  have  in  the 
primary  school  system,  for  the  boy  who  must  seize  upon  a 
large  number  of  essentials  before  he  drops  out  of  school  to 
begin  work  at  the  age  of  fourteen  or  fifteen.  Not  only  does 
the  American  boy  who  has  like  interests  and  who  holds  to  the 
same  purpose  fail  to  get  these  essentials,  but  because  he  is 
often  out  of  sympathy  with  the  more  deliberate  mental 
habits  of  the  boys  and  girls  who  expect  to  go  to  high  school 
and  college,  he  does  not  really  get  what  the  course,  as  it 
stands,  offers  to  him.  He  is  guided,  without  regard  for  his 
interests  or  economic  needs,  into  the  first  work  of  the  Eng- 
lish course  of  study.  Then  school  and  college  officials 
pray  that  luck  may  bring  him  out  somewhere  along  the 
way  in  possession  of  enough  skill  to  save  himself  and  his 
teachers  from  disgrace.  If  he  fails  to  have  it,  everybody 
blames  somebody  else. 

My  conviction  is  this:  we  cannot  have  the  best  results 
until  a  more  genuine  respect  for  the  actual  needs  of  others 
dominates  our  work.      There  must  be  a  better  working 


ORGANIZED  LANGUAGE  TRADITION         215 

relation  between  the  lowest  and  the  highest  grades.  Teach- 
ing the  mother  tongue  will  remain  in  a  chaotic  state  until 
we  have  begun  to  accomplish  definite  things  in  definite 
places;  and  as  long  as  the  lower-grade  teacher,  the  high- 
school  teacher,  and  the  college  professor  disregard  one 
another,  this  end  is  unattainable.  In  our  present  state,  it  is 
impossible  to  fix  responsibility  in  any  given  case.  Now 
the  remedy  does  not  call  for  an  ideal  boy  or  an  ideal  teacher. 
All  that  is  needed  is  a  cooperative  spirit  and  a  course  that  is 
definitely  planned  and  definitely  carried  out,  so  that  when 
a  boy  has  passed  through  a  certain  grade  in  the  kind  of 
school  best  suited  to  his  needs,  he  will  possess  certain 
knowledge  and  certain  skill  —  limited,  of  course,  by  his 
native  capacity  —  which  the  teachers  in  succeeding  grades 
may  confidently  take  for  granted. 

In  the  second  place,  if  we  are  not  to  give  up  the  more  or 
less  distinct  breaks  that  separate  the  grades  and  the  high 
school,  and  the  high  school  and  the  college,  let  us  have  them 
earlier  in  the  pupil's  life.  The  subject-matter  in  most 
seventh-grade  and  eighth-grade  courses  in  English  naturally 
relates  itself  more  closely  to  what  comes  after  it  than  to  what 
precedes  it.  If,  then,  the  pupil  is  to  come  to  a  point  in  his 
school  career  where  he  takes  a  new  and  firmer  grasp  upon 
his  work,  let  it  come  where  the  subject-matter  of  the  course 
makes  a  division  most  nearly  logical. 

Moreover,  if  the  demands  of  the  native  tongue  are  con- 
sidered, the  entire  school  course  ought  to  be  simplified  and 
compressed.  Good  writing,  as  well  as  good  speaking,  is 
largely  a  matter  of  habit;  and  habits  are  more  permanently 
formed  when  the  mind  is  alert,  receptive,  and  so  disen- 
cumbered of  non-essentials  that  it  feels  its  own  progress. 
When  the  pupil's  entire  mental  life  is  warmed  by  means  of 
continuous,  concentrated  activity,  he  thinks  more  clearly, 


216     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

sees  relations  more  distinctly,  and  is  impressed  by  the  world 
about  him  to  a  greater  degree  than  is  possible  when  he  must 
be  constantly  reawakened.  And  this  advantage  holds 
whether  the  pupil  expects  to  go  to  college  or  to  turn  at  once 
to  earning  a  livelihood.  If  he  purposes  to  go  directly  from 
high  school  to  an  office  or  shop,  his  habits  of  speech  or 
writing  will  profit  by  the  stricter  and  more  constant  atten- 
tion resulting  from  a  compression  of  the  school  course;  and 
if  he  purposes  to  go  to  college,  not  only  will  he  have  this 
advantage,  but  he  will  probably  be  a  better  freshman  at 
sixteen  or  seventeen  than  at  eighteen  or  nineteen.  At  the 
earlier  age,  he  is  much  less  likely  to  have  become  so  en- 
grossed in  social  activities  that  he  "  slows  down"  in  his  work. 
He  will,  then,  probably  enter  college  with  better  habits  of 
study  if  he  pursues  a  well-filled  course  that  brings  him 
through  high  school  without  a  long  period  of  mental  relax- 
ation. Moreover,  at  the  age  of  eighteen  or  nineteen,  he  is 
neither  a  boy  nor  a  man,  yet  sophisticated  enough  to  de- 
mand the  privileges  of  both.  When  he  is  asked  to  be  care- 
ful in  the  mechanics  of  writing,  he  is  surprised  that  such 
things  are  important  to  grown-ups;  and  when  he  is  asked 
to  do  close,  logical  thinking,  he  is  sure  "  the  Department " 
has  forgotten  that  he  is  not  a  candidate  for  the  Ph.D.  degree. 
His  attitude  toward  college  work  would  contribute  more  to 
his  progress  if  he  entered  college  at  an  earlier  age. 

B.  In  Pedagogical  Practice 

In  pedagogical  practice  our  most  immediate  need  is  not, 
I  believe,  in  the  school  itself,  but  in  the  relation  of  the 
teacher  to  the  community.  If  the  force  of  the  teacher's 
influence  on  the  pupil  is  lost  because  of  the  language  environ- 
ment in  which  the  pupil  lives  when  he  is  out  of  school,  it 
seems  scarcely  necessary  to  urge  that  if  we  are  to  make  more 


ORGANIZED  LANGUAGE  TRADITION         217 

than  a  snail's  progress,  we  must  work  on  the  community  at 
large  as  well  as  on  the  pupils  in  the  school.  We  teachers 
of  English  must  set  ourselves  to  the  ever-present  but 
easily  forgotten  task  of  establishing  a  closer  relation  and  a 
more  thorough-going  cooperation  between  the  school  and 
the  home. 

We  must  become  better  missionaries.  The  spirit  of 
enterprise  and  serviceableness,  unfortunately  for  language 
tradition,  has  been  left  almost  wholly  to  teachers  of  science, 
who,  it  must  be  said,  have  availed  themselves  of  every 
opportunity  to  make  the  world  feel  how  important  they  are 
to  human  welfare.  Is  it  asking  too  much  that  teachers  of 
English  should  display  a  little  of  this  spirit  ?  Wherever 
there  is  a  group  of  teachers  of  English  in  a  community,  or 
wherever  there  is  one  teacher,  should  there  not  be  a  social 
center  of  good  literature,  good  writing,  and  good  speech  ? 
We  must  reach  all  classes,  in  so  far  as  it  is  possible  to  do  so, 
and  make  them  feel  that  we  are  more  than  a  mere  luxury  to 
the  community.  We  must  show  parents  how  important  it 
is  that  their  sons  and  daughters  should  write  good  letters, 
good  reports,  and  good  applications  for  positions,  and  how 
essential  that  they  should  speak  accurately  and  easily.  In 
the  smaller  towns,  newspapers  might  be  prevailed  upon  to 
print  instances  of  the  importance  of  good  English.  If  the 
moral  in  the  tale  did  not  hang  too  heavily,  they  might  print 
the  "stories"  of  how  the  skillful  use  of  the  mother  tongue 
had  helped  boys  and  girls  to  secure  positions  that  otherwise 
would  have  been  given  to  some  one  else;  or  how  the  careless, 
awkward  use  of  language  had  prevented  even  the  best  boy 
from  "getting  a  hearing."  One  cannot  talk  many  minutes 
with  a  college  president,  the  manager  of  an  employment 
bureau,  or  any  merchant  who  possesses  the  least  literary 
conscience,   without  learning  of   these  instances.     They 


218    HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

may  seem  very  commonplace  to  the  teacher  and  they  may 
seem  to  him  an  undignified  means  of  developing  respect  for 
language,  but  to  the  parent  who  is  struggling  for  a  liveli- 
hood they  are  fresh  and  new,  and  they  invariably  make 
instruction  in  the  mother  tongue  seem  worth  while.1 

We  should  not,  however,  stop  with  efforts  of  this  very 
simple  kind.  We  must  encourage  parents  to  hear  good 
speakers,  and  we  must  find  more  opportunities  for  bringing 
good  books,  good  magazines,  and  good  plays  to  their  atten- 
tion. If  we  are  conscientious  and  if  we  remain  in  one  com- 
munity for  a  very  long  period,  we  can  establish  much  the 
same  kind  of  profitable  relation  between  ourselves  and  the 
pupils'  parents  that  usually  exists  between  teachers  and 
parents  in  France.  If  in  every  grade  from  the  primary 
school  to  the  university,  teachers  of  English  would  spend  a 
little  time  each  week  trying  to  develop  a  favorable  attitude 
on  the  part  of  parents  toward  good  speech  and  writing, 
instead  of  saying  it  is  "no  use,"  or  that  it  "does  not  contrib- 
ute to  scholarship,"  the  effect  would  soon  be  noticeable. 
Many  of  the  parents  in  our  school  and  college  communities 
would  in  a  generation  be  cooperating  heartily;  and  when 
parents  and  teachers  cooperate,  even  the  most  obstinate 
pupils  will  yield.     The   stronghold   of  bad  writing  will 

1  Recently  on  a  railway  train  I  overheard  an  unsuccessful  applicant  for  a 
responsible  position  as  a  construction  engineer  ask  why  he  was  not  chosen. 
"Well,"  replied  the  chief  engineer,  "of  the  hundred  and  forty-seven  appli- 
cants, you  were  one  of  the  highest  six.  Any  one  of  these  would  have  satisfied 
our  requirements  if  the  other  five  had  not  applied;   but  we  had  to  choose 

from  the  entire  six,  and  we  chose  Mr. because  of  the  excellence  of  his 

application."  Here  he  opened  a  great  bag  of  applications  and  drew  one  out. 
"Just  look  at  that,"  he  exclaimed.  "Nobody  could  refuse  that  man's 
application.  Look  at  the  organization.  Every  point  stands  out  so  that  you 
can't  help  seeing  it.  And  see  how  straight  his  sentences  are.  That  man 
goes  right  to  the  center  of  things.  With  his  training  and  experience,  and 
that  sense  of  form,  he  can't  fail  to  be  a  great  engineer  some  day." 


ORGANIZED  LANGUAGE  TRADITION         219 

eventually  capitulate  —  or  at  least  be  reduced  to  compara- 
tive feebleness  —  if  it  is  attacked  on  both  sides. 

Within  the  classroom,  if  we  are  to  gain  any  light  from  the 
French,  our  first  great  need  is  a  more  judicious  distribution 
of  exercises  in  writing.  In  many  schools  the  work  in  com- 
position, regardless  of  its  quality,  is  quite  insufficient  in 
amount.  Such  cases,  of  course,  will  not  gain  much  by  any 
change  in  method  until  the  course  itself  is  strengthened. 
It  is  not,  however,  about  schools  of  this  kind  that  I  wish  to 
speak,  but  rather  those  that,  having  enough  composition, 
fail  to  distribute  it  well  throughout  the  pupil's  school  career, 
or  else  fail  to  adapt  it  to  his  needs.  From  information 
gleaned  within  the  past  three  years  from  several  hundred 
American  programmes  of  study  as  they  are  actually  carried 
out,  and  from  a  more  hasty  examination  of  the  general  out- 
line followed  in  many  other  schools,  I  have  found  that  very 
frequently,  especially  in  the  upper  grades  and  in  the  high 
school,  pupils  are  required  to  do  much  writing  one  year  or 
one  semester,  and  then  during  the  succeeding  year  or 
semester  do  nothing  at  all,  or,  at  most,  write  one  long  paper 
of  some  kind  at  the  end  of  the  term.  Sometimes  the  lack  of 
continuity  is  due  to  failure  on  the  part  of  the  superintendent 
or  principal  to  provide  time  for  continuous  work;  sometimes 
it  is  due  to  a  teacher's  desire  to  lump  the  work  in  composi- 
tion together  and  have  it  out  of  the  way  once  for  all;  and 
sometimes  (heaven  defend  us!)  it  is  due  to  a  vote  of  the 
pupils  to  put  theme-writing  aside  and  take  up  something 
more  interesting.  But  whatever  the  cause,  the  evil  is 
serious,  and  should  be  remedied.  The  demands  of  variety 
may  make  it  seem  unwise  to  have  the  themes  coming  in  at 
the  same  intervals  year  after  year,  regardless  of  the  subject- 
matter  upon  which  the  pupil  is  asked  to  write ;  but  he  should 
never  be  permitted  to  lose  whatever  skill  he  has  acquired. 


220    HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

He  must  work  steadily,  habitually.  Otherwise  his  own 
loose  speech  and  writing,  and  the  speech  he  hears  every  day, 
will  surely  gain  the  ascendancy.  In  no  other  kind  of  school 
work  is  there  such  great  need  of  regular  practice  and  steady, 
skillfully  graduated  progression. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  here  to  attempt  any  detailed  applica- 
tion of  French  classroom  methods  to  the  teaching  of  writing 
in  American  schools ;  the  chapter  on  Composition  ought  to 
serve  in  itself  as  a  sufficient  explanation  of  what  the  indi- 
vidual American  teacher  might  derive  from  the  best  practice 
in  France.  But  one  principle  that  dominates  all  the  French 
teacher's  work  in  composition  deserves  a  larger  place  in  our 
own  classes;  that  is,  the  doing  of  the  chief  part  of  the  work 
before  the  pupil  writes,  rather  than  after  he  has  written. 
The  principle,  we  remember,  is  applied  both  to  the  French 
boy's  general  preparation  and  to  his  preparation  for  a  spe- 
cific composition.  How  much  we  need  to  emphasize  it  may 
be  seen  by  reflecting  upon  the  character  of  our  pupils' 
typical  deficiencies  when  they  are  ready  to  leave  school  or 
college.  And  the  explanation  is  not  difficult  to  find.  When 
a  boy  is  old  enough  to  have  some  ideas  of  his  own,  we  ask 
him  to  write,  and  we  then  find  that  he  cannot  handle  the 
mechanical  problems  of  his  task.  Now,  as  has  been  pointed 
out  already,  a  boy  can  and  must  acquire  skill  before  he  can 
do  serious  consecutive  thinking;  and  he  might  easily  have  a 
mastery  of  the  mechanics  of  writing  through  such  practice 
as  may  be  found  in  well-graded  dictation. 

In  like  preliminary  manner  he  might  acquire  a  much  more 
serviceable  vocabulary.  Our  pupils,  as  a  class,  are  seriously 
restricted  in  their  speech  and  writing  because  they  have  a 
relatively  small  stock  of  words  at  command ;  and  they  suffer 
further  because  they  use  words  in  a  vague  or  a  wholly  incor- 
rect sense.   Early  in  their  life,  while  the  world  is  still  fresh 


ORGANIZED  LANGUAGE  TRADITION         221 

and  full  of  wonder,  they  should  be  led  to  explore  systemati- 
cally the  neighborhood  about  them  and  to  name  the 
familiar  objects  that  they  behold  every  day.  Then  they 
should  have  similar  guidance  in  expressing  distinctions 
between  less  familiar  physical  and  moral  qualities,  so  that 
they  can  say  what  they  really  want  to  say.  If  the  French 
could  contribute  nothing  to  the  solution  of  our  problems 
save  their  tried  methods  of  teaching  distinctions,  they  might 
well  be  regarded  as  great  benefactors.  They  long  ago  found 
that  the  way  to  help  a  pupil  to  the  power  of  seeing  dif- 
ferences is  not  through  the  study  of  synonyms,  but  through 
the  study  of  antonyms.  The  world  stands  out  sharply  in  a 
boy's  mind  not  when  he  sees  likenesses,  but  when  he  sees 
contrasts.  This,  however,  is  not  all  that  we  might  gain 
from  the  French  in  improving  the  pupil's  vocabulary.  We 
might  in  addition  adopt  the  practice  of  requiring  pupils  to 
recall  words  quickly,  so  that  their  words  will  serve  them  in 
time  of  need.  The  object  may  be  presented,  and  the  word 
required,  or  a  synonym  or  antonym  may  be  used  as  the 
beginning.  There  are  many  legitimate  kinds  of  association 
through  which  the  word  may  be  recalled.  The  matter  of 
importance  is  that  it  be  distinctly  attached  to  the  group  of 
ideas  to  which  it  belongs. 

We  may  dwell  long  and  affectionately  upon  the  advan- 
tages of  the  unconscious  assimilation  of  a  working  vocabu- 
lary; but  when  we  see  the  mastery  the  French  boy  has 
gained  by  the  time  he  has  reached  the  age  of  eleven  or 
twelve,  we  must  admit  that  the  effectiveness  of  systematic 
improvement  is  not  open  to  question. 

Because  of  this  belief  in  the  efficacy  of  thorough  prepara- 
tion, the  French  can  instruct  us,  too,  in  finding  and  develop- 
ing material  for  compositions.  Here  again  we  suffer  much 
because  we  rely  so  largely  upon  correction  and  criticism 


222     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

rather  than  prevision.  The  extent,  in  truth,  to  which  we 
have  developed  the  art  of  theme-correcting  is  marvelous. 
Our  educational  journals  are  full  of  schemes  that  are  guaran- 
teed to  save  labor  in  marking  corrections,  of  systems  and 
symbols  that  will  almost  enable  a  teacher  to  hold  a  confer- 
ence with  a  pupil  without  seeing  him;  yet  comparatively 
little  is  said  about  the  best  methods  of  interesting  pupils  in 
material  and  of  encouraging  them  to  meditate  upon  it, 
although  these  are  the  surest  ways  of  saving  labor  and  of 
making  a  delight  of  such  criticism  as  must  necessarily 
remain  to  be  done.  We  are  strangely  illogical.  If  we  do 
even  the  smallest  piece  of  writing  ourselves,  we  think  upon 
the  subject,  read  discussions  of  it,  talk  with  our  friends  about 
it,  and  only  after  we  have  digested  it  thoroughly  do  we 
venture  to  write.  Nevertheless,  when  we  assign  a  theme, 
which,  to  begin  with,  is  looked  upon  by  the  pupil  as  a  mere 
task  set  by  some  one  else,  we  frequently  do  not  discuss  the 
material  in  any  thorough-going  manner,  and  we  do  not 
always  show  the  pupil  how  he  might  become  interested  in 
his  subject  by  talking  to  his  classmates  and  friends  about  it. 
We  do  not  help  him  far  in  getting  ideas,  save  in  a  very 
general  way,  and  we  hesitate  to  put  a  plan  on  the  black- 
board, lest  he  copy  it  and  use  it.  We  give  him  only  the 
slightest  straw  to  clutch  —  sometimes  only  a  title  of  four  or 
five  words  —  yet  expect  him  to  come  out  safely,  and  to  find 
pleasure  in  the  struggle.  He  probably  does  neither.  His 
mind  is  unaccustomed  to  catching  up  stray  ideas  and  putting 
them  in  order.  He  may  not  even  do  his  best  in  trying  to 
learn  how.  He  writes  what  little  is  in  his  mind,  or  fits 
together  some  ideas  that  he  has  garbled  from  a  book,  and 
calls  the  result  his  "composition."  Then  we  spend  many 
precious  minutes  showing  him,  or  trying  to  show  him,  how 
to  tear  his  ideas  all  apart  and  rewrite  them  into  a  new  theme. 


ORGANIZED  LANGUAGE  TRADITION         223 

Certainly  there  is  little  pedagogical  or  personal  defense  for 
our  practice.  If  the  teacher  helps  his  pupils  to  enrich, 
quicken,  and  organize  their  material  before  they  begin  to 
write,  he  not  only  stimulates  them  to  their  best  efEorts,  but 
saves  himself  infinite  pains. 

Outside  the  classes  in  composition,  our  first  step  should  be 
back  toward  grammar.  We  shall  soon  discover  —  possibly 
we  are  making  the  discovery  now  —  that  habit,  though  of 
the  greatest  importance  in  speech  and  writing,  is  not, 
unaided,  a  sufficient  guide.  To  begin  with,  the  pupils  in 
many  of  our  cities  where  the  foreign  population  is  large,  and 
those  in  our  smaller  towns  and  country  communities,  hear 
so  much  incorrect  English  that  if  they  rely  on  unconscious 
or  subconscious  memory,  they  are  likely  to  be  misguided. 
From  habit  they  cannot  speak  normally,  because  they  have 
no  norm.  They  must,  then,  have  recourse  to  usage  as  it  is 
classified  and  recorded  in  a  textbook.  But  there  is  a  need 
for  grammar  beyond  this.  Even  the  best  pupil  must 
frequently  examine  and  recast  what  he  has  written,  and  in 
doing  this  he  must  be  able  to  handle  the  sentence  skillfully. 
Now  his  early  and  continued  practice  in  grammar,  if  it  has 
been  directed  intelligently,  has  given  him  just  the  kind  of 
knowledge  and  skill  that  revision  demands.  He  can  make 
the  sentence  do  his  bidding. 

Many  of  the  trappings  that  accompanied  the  older  teach- 
ing of  grammar  in  this  country  are  not  necessary  to  adequate 
knowledge  of  the  sentence.  The  work  may  be  simplified,  it 
may  be  vivified  through  a  close  relation  to  what  the  pupil 
reads  and  sees,  and  it  may  occupy  a  relatively  small  part 
of  the  school  programme.  But  grammar,  real  grammar,  it 
must  be.  And  there  is  little  reason  why  there  should  be  any 
attempt  to  conceal  it  under  a  sugar-coating  of  "composi- 
tion" or  "language  exercises"  or  any  other  term  less  dis- 


224    HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

tasteful  than  "grammar"  itself.  We  can  lose  nothing  if  we 
call  it  by  its  real  name,  and  then  teach  its  wholesome 
principles  from  the  first  grade  to  the  high  school.  More- 
over, in  the  last  years  of  the  high  school  we  could  increase 
the  pupil's  grasp  of  his  native  tongue  by  teaching  him  some 
of  the  elements  of  historical  grammar.  It  is  doubtful 
whether  our  pupils  and  higher  students  of  English  need 
anything  quite  so  much  as  the  steadying  influence  that 
grammar,  well  taught,  can  give. 

Again,  we  must  teach  the  English  classics,  not  present- 
day  periodical  literature.  It  seems  exceedingly  important 
that  we  should  remember  this  just  now,  since  much  is  being 
written  concerning  the  value  of  courses  in  magazine  reading. 
No  teacher,  I  suppose,  would  deny  the  importance  of  having 
a  pupil  become  acquainted  with  all  the  better  contempo- 
rary periodicals.  If  he  neglects  them,  he  loses  step  with 
the  world.  But  their  appeal  is  so  direct,  they  make  such  a 
pronounced  conscious  effort  to  interest  him,  and  their 
material  is  so  quickly  understood,  that  he  need  not  take 
courses  in  them.  As  a  class,  however  legitimate  their  place 
in  life  may  be,  they  are  too  light,  too  ephemeral,  to  require 
much  explanation,  much  comment,  much  interpretation. 
They  come  easily,  and  they  go  easily.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  great  piece  of  literature,  the  one  that  is  capable  of  mak- 
ing an  infinite  number  of  appeals  to  the  same  reader,  must 
be  looked  at,  turned  over,  reflected  upon.  Here  the  pupil 
needs  encouragement  and  aid.  He  must  be  led  to  see  that 
the  classic,  when  he  rightly  appreciates  it,  is  something 
that  he  likes.  To  come  into  this  state  of  mind  may  be 
difficult  for  him,  but  once  he  does,  he  has  gained  a  possession 
that  will  color  and  brighten  his  existence  as  long  as  he  lives. 
He  may  become  a  reader  of  the  magazines,  as  well  as  cur- 
rent books  of  fiction,  almost  any  time  in  his  life;  but  if  he  is 


ORGANIZED  LANGUAGE  TRADITION        225 

to  be  a  reader  of  the  best  literature  in  the  language,  he  must 
begin  early  and  have  guidance. 

Moreover,  we  must  have  a  less  artificial  relation  between 
composition  and  literature.  We  do  not  need  any  intricate 
or  magical  balancing  of  reading  and  style,  but  only  a  larger 
application  of  common  sense.  Pupils  of  high-school  age,  or 
younger,  can  grasp  well-expressed  ideas  much  more  readily 
than  they  can  detect  and  express  a  writer's  sense  of  form. 
Moreover,  since  the  feeling  for  form  that  a  writer  carries 
into  his  work  is  often  much  more  individual  and  personal 
than  his  ideas,  different  pupils  are  much  less  likely  to  appre- 
ciate it  in  an  equal  degree.  Then,  too,  the  same  pupil's 
feeling  for  a  given  writer's  sense  of  form  varies  greatly  from 
time  to  time.  It  seems  better,  therefore,  to  base  compara- 
tively few  compositions  on  criticism.  Most  of  the  time, 
young  boys  and  girls  who  have  compositions  to  write 
would  rather  discuss  some  good,  wholesome  idea  expressed 
by  an  author  than  prepare  any  disquisition  on  his  literary 
theory;  and  their  youthful  minds  are  in  this  respect  fairly 
safe  guides.  The  teacher  can,  then,  help  both  composition 
and  literature  by  asking  pupils  to  write  on  what  they  really 
think  when  they  come  face  to  face  with  what  an  author  says. 
Frequently  they  will  be  surprised  to  find  that  great  authors 
say  anything  that  one  would  care  to  know;  so  long  have 
they  taken  it  for  granted  that  classics  were  written  for  the 
sole  purpose  of  being  dismembered.  In  their  eagerness  they 
will  develop  a  desire  to  read;  and  when  they  read  for  the 
purpose  of  knowing  just  what  an  author  says,  they  are  tak- 
ing the  first  long  step  toward  genuine  appreciation  and  a 
working  knowledge  of  literary  form. 

We  shall  not,  however,  come  to  the  fullest  influence  of 
literature  on  writing  unless  we  place  greater  emphasis  upon 
the  cultivation  of  the  memory.    There  can  be  little  doubt 


226    HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

that  the  French  are  justified  in  their  belief  that  the  best  part 
of  the  effect  of  what  the  pupil  reads  is  not  through  any  over- 
nice  interweaving  of  lessons  in  literature  and  composition, 
but  in  the  general  effect  of  filling  the  memory  with  the  ideas, 
the  phrasing,  the  coloring,  and  the  movement  of  the  writ- 
ings of  a  number  of  authors.  We  are  missing  this  influence 
almost  wholly  because  our  pupils  have  no  great  fund  of 
good  literature  that  they  remember  distinctly,  either  word 
for  word,  or  in  essential  idea.  And  what  is  more  deplor- 
able, at  the  end  of  their  school  and  college  careers  they  do 
not  seem  to  have  memories  that  are  at  all  reliable  in  retain- 
ing anything.  We  have  talked  much  about  the  spirit  of 
education,  and  in  our  heroic  efforts  to  catch  the  spirit 
without  first  having  the  substance,  we  have  come  to  look 
upon  the  exercise  of  memory  as  a  very  old-fashioned  practice 
that  ought  to  be  discarded  because  it  sometimes  requires 
more  rigorous  mental  effort  than  pupils  are  willing  to  make. 
As  a  result  of  this  attitude,  our  boys  and  girls  remember  few 
things,  and  these  very  imperfectly.  If  a  boy  says  that  Job 
was  a  character  in  the  Bible,  or  that  Milton  was  an  English 
writer  who  lived  before  the  Revolutionary  War,  he  seems  to 
think  that  he  has  been  sufficiently  definite  and  that  further 
details  would  be  "mechanically"  exacting.  And  how 
many  of  our  school  pupils  or  college  students  can  recite 
even  three  good  poems  from  memory  ?  They  do  not  know 
a  great  religious  hymn,  or  a  song  from  a  good  opera,  and 
they  cannot  sing  America  or  The  Star  Spangled  Banner  unless 
they  have  the  words  before  their  eyes.  In  so  far  as  their 
memories  are  active  at  all,  they  are  taken  up  with  the  cheap- 
est songs  of  the  hour  (perhaps  the  chorus  of  each),  most  of 
which  are  below  mediocrity  in  music  and  are  either  char- 
acterless or  vicious  in  sentiment  and  expression. 


ORGANIZED  LANGUAGE  TRADITION        227 

Now  I  am  aware  that  memory  work  might  be  overdone; 
but  there  is  little  danger  of  such  a  misfortune  in  America  at 
the  present  time.  We  have  gone  to  the  extreme  in  the  other 
direction.  To  go  back  at  least  a  part  of  the  way  is  our 
serious  duty.  If  our  pupils  are  to  have  any  feeling  for  order, 
for  movement,  for  all  that  is  included  in  the  word  style,  we 
must  give  them  some  permanent  antidote  for  the  poisonous 
literary  refreshment  they  find  for  themselves,  and  we  must 
help  them  to  acquire  a  fund  of  good  literature  that  will  be  a 
positive  enrichment  to  their  lives.  It  is  quite  useless  to  ask 
boys  and  girls  to  express  themselves  in  English  suitable  to  a 
given  occasion  when  they  have  no  clear  conception  of  occa- 
sions. If  they  are  to  write  well,  their  minds  must  pass 
through  a  long  period  of  preparation.  They  must  have 
practice,  for  they  must  gain  immediate  skill,  and  their  entire 
intellectual  life  must  be  quickened  to  receive  the  results  of 
reading.  But  they  must  remember  what  they  read.  We 
cannot  control  every  pupil's  environment  so  that  he  will 
hear  only  good  speech;  but  we  can  so  fill  his  memory  with 
good  literature  that  it  will  never  cease  to  echo  and  reecho 
through  his  consciousness. 

These,  it  may  be  said,  are  very  matter-of-fact  suggestions. 
They  are.  I  have  already  explained  that  French  teachers 
are  not  much  given  to  chasing  novel  or  whimsical  methods. 
And  a  study  of  their  schools  will  convince  almost  any  Ameri- 
can that  one  of  our  greatest  educational  needs  is  larger 
faithfulness  to  a  few  well-proved  practices.  We  have  a 
national  habit  of  taking  up  a  subject  or  idea,  proving  its 
absolute  importance,  and  then  immediately  forgetting  all 
about  it.  Ten  years  ago,  for  example,  everybody  dis- 
cussed correlation  of  studies.  Every  assembly  of  teachers, 
from  the  state  association  to  the  township  monthly  institute 
or  village  fortnightly  meeting,  resounded  with  discussions  of 


228    HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

correlation.  To-day  correlation  is  just  as  important  as  it 
was  ten  years  ago  —  and  in  most  respects  it  is  quite  as  far 
from  being  realized  —  yet  comparatively  little  is  said  upon 
the  subject.  It  has  given  way  in  turn  to  vocational  guidance, 
Montessori  education,  and  sex  hygiene.  In  the  field  of  Eng- 
lish, the  same  unrest  has  been  evident.  Oral  composition, 
commercial  correspondence,  dramatization,  learning  to 
write  by  learning  to  think,  have  in  turn  received  large  at- 
tention. As  if  all  of  them  were  not  of  great  and  undiminish- 
ing  importance!  Truly,  our  task  is  not  to  discover  the 
wholly  new  and  untried,  but  to  be  patient  in  carrying 
reasonable  and  accepted  methods  into  practice. 

We  must,  too,  be  insistent  in  our  demands  for  work  of 
good  quality.  I  would  not  minimize  the  importance  of 
quality  in  other  subjects,  but  in  the  study  of  the  mother 
tongue  it  is  peculiarly  essential.  The  native  language  differs 
from  other  subjects  in  that  the  pupil  always  has  a  fund  of 
knowledge  about  it  that  he  has  acquired  more  or  less  uncon- 
sciously. He  must,  then,  be  brought  into  an  alert,  open 
state  of  mind  before  he  has  any  real  consciousness  of  the 
language  or  can  have  a  very  definite  feeling  for  its  correct  or 
effective  use.  The  French  boy,  it  is  well  known,  has  more 
to  do  in  school  than  the  American  boy  has,  and  his  work  is 
more  exacting  in  character.  As  a  result,  he  is  kept  in  a 
state  of  activity  that  holds  his  mind  open  to  impression. 
Now  by  compressing  our  course  of  study,  as  I  have  already 
pointed  out,  and  by  insistence  upon  work  of  high  quality, 
we  shall  do  much  to  bring  our  pupils  into  a  similar  state.  A 
boy  may  go  along  very  pleasantly  from  year  to  year  and 
avoid  making  egregious  blunders  in  either  speech  or  writing; 
yet  because  he  is  not  thoroughly  awakened,  he  may  never 
quite  gain  a  real  working  mastery  over  his  mother  tongue. 
Whether  he  likes  the  experience  or  not,  he  must  be  brought 


ORGANIZED  LANGUAGE  TRADITION         229 

up  to  white  heat  in  his  mental  activities  so  that  he  may 
become  impressionable  to  things  that  are  subtle  or  evasive 
in  character,  and  conscious  to  some  extent  of  his  everyday 
mental  life.    His  mind  must  have  some  genuine  discipline. 

C.  In  Finding  and  Preparing  Teachers 

Nothing,  however,  in  the  nature  of  readjustment  or 
reemphasis  in  our  school  organization  or  classroom  method 
will  result  in  the  highest  possible  good  unless  we  have  a 
greater  number  of  efficient  teachers.  It  is  remarkable 
and  regrettable  that  the  teacher,  the  center  and  life  of 
the  school,  has  received  so  little  of  our  thought.  I  do  not 
speak  disparagingly  of  our  normal  schools,  for  they  are  do- 
ing a  valuable  service  in  spite  of  the  criticism  that  has  been 
heaped  upon  them;  I  refer  rather  to  the  passive  attitude  of 
school  officers  and  teachers  themselves.  Go  to  our  educa- 
tional meetings,  read  the  proceedings  of  our  national  and 
state  associations,  or  glance  through  our  leading  educational 
journals,  and  how  much  is  found  about  the  questions  of  dis- 
covering and  preparing  good  teachers  ?    All  other  subjects 

—  deficients,  fine  art,  agriculture,  high  school  fraternities, 

—  are  treated  with  spirit  and  completeness ;  but  the  one 
topic  that  is  more  important  than  any  other  is  well-nigh 
forgotten.  And  when  one  visits  our  schools  and  colleges, 
one  can  see  that  this  attitude  is  carried  into  practice.  We 
have  the  spectacle  of  quarter-million-dollar  high  school 
buildings  "  manned  "  in  the  main  by  eight- hundred-dollar 
teachers;  we  have  universities  with  ten-million-dollar 
"plants"  operated  to  a  surprising  extent  by  young  assist- 
ants and  instructors  who  receive  but  little  more  than  the 
teachers  in  the  high  school.  Our  interest  in  the  machinery, 
the  trappings  of  education  —  the  part  that  can  be  pointed 
out  easily  and  impressively  to  patrons  of  learning  —  has 


230    HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

been  so  great  that  we  have  in  large  measure  lost  sight  of  the 
teacher. 

From  this  condition,  English  has  probably  been  the 
greatest  sufferer.  To  begin  with,  the  more  "practical" 
subjects  demand  and  receive  first  attention;  their  signifi- 
cance is  immediately  recognized.  Secondly,  it  seems  to  be 
taken  for  granted  in  many  school  communities  that  since 
everybody  speaks  the  English  language,  anybody  ought  to 
be  able  to  teach  it.  Superintendents  and  principals  fre- 
quently will  go  to  a  college,  university,  or  normal  school, 
choose  a  man  who  will  be  a  good  football  or  basketball  coach, 
and  without  making  any  inquiry  whatever  concerning  his 
record  in  English,  will  put  him  in  charge  of  classes  in  com- 
position and  literature.  Too  often  it  happens  that  he  is 
disgracefully  poor  in  English,  and  through  his  weakness 
neutralizes  all  the  good  effect  of  the  other  English  teachers 
in  the  school.  Of  course,  in  our  present  mania  for  highly 
organized  athletics,  all  departments  in  our  schools  suffer  in 
this  manner;  but  the  supposed  ease  with  which  anyone  may 
be  made  into  a  teacher  of  the  mother  tongue  causes  English 
to  suffer  out  of  proportion. 

We  must,  then,  be  more  zealous  in  finding  young  men  and 
women  who  will  develop  into  good  teachers.  In  some  defi- 
nite manner  we  must  help  the  indifferent  superintendent  to 
see  that  he  ought  not  to  foist  an  inadequately  trained  college 
graduate  upon  the  high-school  department  of  English,  and 
we  must  make  him  feel  that  he  should  not  rely  upon  chance 
in  getting  new  teachers  when  vacancies  occur.  Why 
should  he  not  have  at  all  times  a  list  of  good  candidates 
from  which  he  might  make  selection  ?  And  then  everyone 
who  teaches  English  must  devote  more  thought  to  means  of 
encouraging  promising  boys  and  girls  to  go  into  the  English 
field.    When  a  pupil  reveals  unusual  ability  in  the  mother 


ORGANIZED  LANGUAGE  TRADITION         231 

tongue,  we  should  not  sit  idly  by  while  he  decides  to  take  up 
the  teaching  of  German  or  botany  or  mathematics.  We 
must  be  active  in  finding  promising  recruits,  so  that  school 
officers  may  not  justly  complain  of  a  dearth  of  material. 

Once  promising  candidates  are  found,  they  must  have 
sufficient  academic  and  professional  training.  This  declara- 
tion, I  am  aware,  may  seem  quite  unnecessary.  Yet  if  we 
bear  in  mind  the  professional  qualifications  of  a  large  per 
cent  of  our  rural,  village,  or  even  city  teachers,  we  can  see 
that  we  are  far  removed  from  an  ideal  condition.  As  was 
pointed  out  in  the  preceding  chapter,  many  of  our  teachers 
are  as  well  trained  as  the  best  that  are  to  be  found  anywhere; 
but  there  are  so  many  with  wholly  inadequate  preparation 
that  they  make  the  average  very  low.1 

Aside  from  the  perfectly  obvious  fact  that  more  thorough 
preparation  would  contribute  to  sounder  scholarship  gen- 
erally, there  are  specific  reasons  why  the  English  teacher 
should  be  well  trained.  First,  the  mother  tongue  is  prob- 
ably influenced  more  than  any  other  subject  by  the  general 
tone  of  the  teaching  force.  Anyone  who  enters  a  school- 
room with  narrow  or  meagre  preparation  is  almost  certain  to 
reveal  his  weakness  in  his  speech  and  writing.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  teacher  of  the  mother  tongue  profits  peculiarly  by 
a  period  of  training  in  a  normal  school,  college,  or  university, 
since  he  is  not  merely  receiving  systematic  instruction,  but, 
through  daily  contact  with  other  minds  in  the  educated 
community,  is  having  his  instruction  driven  home.  In 
this  double  process  he  not  only  learns  better  what  to  present 
in  the  classroom,  but  remedies  weaknesses  in  his  own 
speech  that  would  be  dangerous  to  the  language  conscience 
of  his  pupils.  Secondly,  because  of  the  inclusiveness  of  the 
field  of  English  and  the  interrelation  of  the  different  parts 

1  See  the  comparison  with  the  French  teacher  in  Chapter  VII. 


232     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

of  the  field,  the  subject  gains  almost  immeasurably  through 
being  presented  by  one  who  has  a  deep  background  of 
knowledge.  A  teacher  may  be  a  slave  to  a  textbook  and 
still  be  of  some  service  to  his  pupils,  but  if  he  is  really  to 
illumine  his  subject,  he  must  have  breadth  of  knowledge 
of  his  own. 

Especially  in  the  training  of  elementary  teachers  should 
our  efforts  be  in  the  direction  of  greater  thoroughness.  The 
per  cent  of  American  teachers  of  the  lower  grades  who  have 
had  no  training  beyond  the  high  school  is  distressingly  large; 
and  the  number  of  those  who  have  completed  only  the 
common-school  course  is  much  larger  than  is  generally 
supposed.  Some  have  attended  a  normal  school  for  the 
short  summer  term,  but  many  have  not  had  even  this 
opportunity  for  professional  improvement.  Now,  if  we  but 
reflect  upon  the  scope  of  the  field  of  English  and  the  daily 
questions  that  require  more  than  elementary  knowledge  on 
the  part  of  the  teacher,  we  cannot  fail  to  see  the  necessity  of 
more  thorough  training.  Why  should  a  man  or  woman 
who  teaches  ten-year-old  boys  be  less  thoroughly  prepared 
than  the  one  who  instructs  high-school  pupils  ?  In  truth,  the 
problems  of  the  former  sometimes  require  the  wider  knowl- 
edge. But  however  that  may  be,  the  elementary  teachers 
should  have  a  large  fund  of  knowledge  beyond  the  immediate 
routine  demands  of  the  class.  The  limits  fixed  by  the 
course  of  study  should  be  conveniences,  not  barriers  beyond 
which  the  class  should  never  venture.  If,  however,  the 
pupils  are  to  catch  glimpses  of  a  world  larger  than  the  text- 
book or  classroom,  the  teacher  must  be  able  to  help  them. 
He  should  have  a  wide  acquaintance  with  literature,  the 
ability  to  write  with  some  degree  of  skill,  and,  above  all  else, 
enough  systematic  knowledge  of  his  subject  to  enable  him 
to  know  his  own  weaknesses,  to  judge  between  arbitrary 


ORGANIZED  LANGUAGE  TRADITION         233 

rule  and  established  principle,  to  know  when  to  accept  the 
new  and  when  to  hold  fast  to  the  old.  He  must  have 
enough  knowledge,  and  he  must  have  it  well  enough  or- 
ganized, to  enable  him  to  exercise  the  power  of  selection, 
whether  in  choosing  material  for  his  pupils  to  read,  or  in  dis- 
cussing a  poem,  or  in  criticising  a  dictation  or  composition. 
Training,  to  be  sure,  will  not  make  a  teacher  effective  if  he 
has  poor  native  ability;  but  given  teaching  intelligence, 
training  of  this  broad  character  will  enable  one  to  pass  from 
the  rank  of  the  ordinary  teacher  to  that  of  the  teacher  whose 
work  is  immediately  recognized  because  of  its  depth  and 
permanence. 

There  is  nothing  ultra-idealistic  in  the  nature  of  the  con- 
viction that  better  training  is  within  the  range  of  possibil- 
ity. Men  whose  chief  concern  in  life  is  business  or  politics 
will  help  to  bring  about  the  change  if  they  are  only  made  to 
see  the  necessity  of  it.  And  the  higher  standards  would 
soon  cease  to  excite  comment;  they  would  be  taken  for 
granted.  Their  necessity  would  be  accepted  just  as  we  have 
accepted  the  necessity  of  automobiles,  interurban  cars,  and 
wireless  telegraphy.  A  few  years  ago  when  one  state  passed 
a  law  which  made  the  minimum  requirement  for  any  kind  of 
teacher  a  four-year  course  in  a  recognized  high  school,  plus 
at  least  twelve  weeks  of  professional  training  in  a  normal 
school  or  department  of  education  in  a  college  or  univer- 
sity, it  was  said  freely  that  schools  would  soon  be  without 
teachers.  Yet  at  the  present  time  the  wisdom  of  the  change 
is  scarcely  questioned  by  anyone,  and  candidates  for  the 
profession  prepare  to  meet  the  requirement  very  much  as  if 
it  had  always  existed.  All  that  is  necessary  in  bringing 
about  such  desirable  changes  is  a  little  concentrated  effort. 

Any  consideration  of  training  for  advanced  teaching 
brings  us  face  to  face  immediately  with  the  whole  problem 


234    HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

of  graduate  study  in  our  universities.  For  several  years  it 
has  been  customary,  whenever  discussion  has  arisen  concern- 
ing advanced  training  in  English,  to  criticise  our  graduate 
schools  roundly,  denounce  the  study  of  "philology,"  and 
close  by  proclaiming  the  case  hopeless.  Some  of  this 
criticism  has  been  wholly  without  justification,  much  of  it 
has  been  well-founded,  and  most  of  it  has  been  offered  in  a 
spirit  that  has  contributed  nothing  toward  an  unprejudiced 
study  of  the  question.  It  is  true  beyond  denial  that  much 
of  the  graduate  work  in  English  in  American  universities 
during  the  past  ten  or  twenty  years,  especially  that  leading 
directly  to  the  Ph.D.  degree,  has  not  helped  greatly  to 
spread  the  gospel  of  good  writing.  Much  of  the  study  bears 
only  a  remote  relation  to  the  work  of  the  high  schools, 
normal  schools,  and  colleges,  it  is  not  always  liberalizing 
in  the  sense  that  corresponding  study  in  history,  economics, 
or  philosophy  is  liberalizing,  and  the  student  who  carries  his 
work  as  far  as  the  Ph.D.  degree  is  in  serious  danger  of  being 
wholly  unfitted  in  attitude  for  taking  up  the  kind  of  work 
that  he  is  almost  certain  to  be  called  upon  to  do  as  soon  as 
he  is  ready  to  teach.  When  he  leaves  the  university  he  is 
likely  to  express  hearty  contempt  for  undergraduates,  to 
scoff  at  pedagogical  principle  as  so  much  useless  flummery, 
to  regard  the  offering  of  graduate  courses  and  the  carrying 
on  of  research  as  the  only  real  heaven  in  which  it  is  pos- 
sible to  "make  a  contribution,"  and,  partly  as  a  result  of 
this  last  conviction,  to  confuse  fruitful  scholarly  investiga- 
tion with  the  least  interesting  devices  of  the  investigator's 
method. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  close  specialization  that  has 
characterized  the  work  required  for  the  Ph.D.  degree  has  had 
one  pronounced  and  usually  forgotten  beneficial  effect:  it 
has  emphasized  the  necessity  of  greater  accuracy  in  the 


ORGANIZED  LANGUAGE  TRADITION  235 

teaching  of  the  mother  tongue.  This,  in  our  new  country, 
is  a  service  that  ought  not  to  be  unappreciated.  It  is 
frequently  said  with  some  justification  that  too  many  of  our 
English  scholars  have  lost  sight  of  the  beauty  and  richness 
of  their  subject  and  have  become  narrow-minded  mediaeval 
source-hunters.  Yet  when  one  bears  in  mind  the  flimsy, 
unsubstantial  "appreciation"  that  stands  at  the  other 
extreme,  one  is  constrained  to  say  that  if  we  must  choose 
between  the  two,  we  had  better  take  the  source-hunting. 
It  has  at  least  the  virtue  of  requiring  accuracy,  and  if  a  man 
pursues  it,  he  will  in  any  event  develop  solidity  of  fibre. 
While  the  case,  then,  against  the  universities  has  been  a  real 
one,  it  has  not  been  wholly  one-sided;  and  it  is  not  one  that 
will  be  settled  by  bitter  denunciation  or  purely  negative 
criticism. 

The  most  urgent  need  in  university  study  of  English 
to-day  is  a  graduate  course  covering  three  or  even  four 
years  that  does  not  demand  research  primarily,  or  even 
largely.  As  our  work  is  now  carried  on,  a  graduate  student 
must  stop  with  the  A.M.  degree,  after  one  or  two  years  of 
study,  or  he  must  give  himself  over  to  specialization  in  his 
field  and  to  research  leading  to  the  Ph.D.  If  he  chooses  to 
spend  one  or  two  years  in  the  graduate  school  after  he 
receives  his  A.M.,  but  does  not  choose  to  become  a  candi- 
date for  the  Ph.D.,  he  suffers  the  humiliation  either  of  being 
looked  upon  as  one  who  has  fallen  short,  or  of  being  re- 
garded as  having  no  definite  purpose.  We  ought  to  have  a 
university  course  of  study  in  the  mother  tongue  that  would 
correspond  in  certain  respects  to  the  work  carried  on  in 
preparation  for  the  agregation  in  France.  It  would  repre- 
sent a  deep  foundation  in  the  study  of  languages  and  a  broad 
but  accurate  knowledge  of  the  literature  of  the  mother 
tongue.     The  candidate  would  devote  himself  to  regular 


236     HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

advanced  courses  in  his  native  language  and  literature,  to 
wide  reading,  and  to  some  intensive  study.  But  he  would 
not  focus  his  chief  effort  upon  a  special  field  in  which  he  is 
supposed  to  become  competent  "  to  advance  knowledge." 
When  he  has  finished  his  course  he  would  submit  himself  to 
an  examination  covering  thoroughly  his  entire  field  of  study. 
As  a  fitting  degree  for  this  course,  the  Litt.D.  might  be 
transferred  from  the  field  of  honorary  degrees.  The  Ph.D. 
could  then  be  kept  as  a  mark  of  distinction  for  men  who  have 
special  ability  in  research. 

This  readjustment  in  graduate  study  would  help  much  in 
giving  to  English  teaching  the  balance  and  unity  of  spirit 
which  it  deeply  needs.  To-day  the  student  in  the  univer- 
sity, the  college,  or  even  the  high  school,  is  tugged  back  and 
forth  by  different  teachers  until  the  field  of  English  seems  to 
him  a  mystic  maze.  One  teacher  thinks  the  only  work 
deserving  the  name  is  based  upon  scientific  language  study; 
his  successor  the  next  year,  or  perhaps  one  of  his  colleagues 
at  the  very  time,  believes  only  in  aesthetic  interpretation; 
another  sees  value  only  in  the  study  of  poetry;  the  next 
thinks  it  sacrilege  to  attempt  to  teach  poetry;  and  possibly 
the  next  is  some  lost  meteoric  soul  in  the  educational  heavens 
who  doubts  whether  language,  literature,  or  anything  else 
can  really  be  taught  at  all.  Is  it  surprising  when  candidates 
for  the  profession  of  teaching  have  been  submitted  to  treat- 
ment of  this  sort  that  our  departments  of  English  are  so 
wholly  lacking  in  unity  of  spirit  ?  Cooperation  is  quite 
impossible,  because  the  different  members  are  going  in 
different  directions  —  or  at  least  they  think  they  are. 
Now,  if  teachers  were  trained  to  look  out  upon  their  field  of 
knowledge  without  being  permitted  to  imagine  that  all  of  it 
centered  about  one  very  small  and  possibly  obscure  corner, 
this  heterogeneous  character  of  our  departments  of  English 


ORGANIZED  LANGUAGE  TRADITION        237 

would  sooner  or  later  become  less  pronounced.  Lovers  of 
nineteenth  century  poetry  would  cease  to  scoff  at  the  col- 
league who  found  interest  in  Old  or  Middle  English;  and  it 
is  scarcely  too  much  to  believe  that  many  another  teacher 
might  cease  to  look  upon  all  courses  in  composition  or 
modern  literature  as  only  so  much  penance  that  must  be 
done  before  one  may  be  admitted  to  "  the  glorified  life  of 
giving  graduate  courses." 

D.  In  the  Teacher's  Position 

As  soon  as  there  is  a  more  distinct  general  movement 
toward  the  better  preparation  of  teachers  of  English,  the 
time  will  be  doubly  ripe  for  demanding  better  working  con- 
ditions and  better  salaries.  As  a  matter  of  simple  reasoning, 
what  kind  of  result  may  be  expected  when  a  man  or 
woman  is  obliged  to  go  from  school  to  school  every  four  or 
five  years  searching  for  a  new  position,  is  required  to  teach 
from  twenty-five  to  thirty-two  hours  a  week  in  addition  to 
committee  work  and  the  important  labor  of  reading  manu- 
script, and  for  the  sacrifice  is  paid  eight  hundred,  six 
hundred,  or  five  hundred  dollars  a  year,  with  the  certain 
prospect  of  being  dropped  from  the  pay-roll  at  a  relatively 
early  age  ?  These  are  the  present  conditions  in  schools 
outside  the  largest  centers  of  population.  In  the  higher 
institutions,  conditions  are  usually  better,1  although  in  many 
colleges  that  have  small  financial  support,  and  in  many  of 
the  universities  that  are  having  the  most  rapid  growth,  the 

1  See  the  various  editions  of  the  Hopkins  Report  on  The  Cost  and  Labor  of 
English  Teaching.  If  there  is  a  teacher  of  English  in  America  who  has  not 
seen  this  report,  he  should  procure  a  copy  at  once  and  study  it.  It  was 
originally  published  by  the  University  of  Kansas,  but  has  been  reprinted 
many  times  elsewhere.  A  copy  may  be  had  by  sending  five  cents  to  the 
Department  of  Journalism  Press,  University  of  Kansas, 


238    HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

"English  situation"  is  still  quite  "impossible."  The 
necessity  of  reform  is  so  general  and  so  urgent  that  it 
scarcely  requires  discussion. 

The  teacher  of  English  must  receive  a  larger  salary. 
"Easy  enough  to  say,"  some  one  usually  exclaims  when 
such  a  declaration  is  made,  "but  where  is  the  money  to 
come  from  ?"  Now  in  all  institutions  supported  by  public 
tax,  is  it  not  just  as  much  a  part  of  the  teacher's  legitimate 
business  to  find  this  out,  as  it  is  to  improve  the  public  wel- 
fare through  purely  professional  skill  ?  The  chief  difficulty 
in  the  past  has  been,  I  believe,  that  teachers,  because  of 
their  short  tenure  of  service  in  a  community  or  their  short 
careers  in  the  profession,  have  given  very  little  thought 
toward  improving  the  conditions  under  which  they  are  asked 
to  work.  How  many  who  read  this  paragraph  know  what 
the  tax  levy  for  educational  purposes  was  in  their  city  or 
county  or  township  last  year  ?  How  much  was  it  for  the 
support  of  political  officeholders  ?  Why  does  it  always 
seem  difficult  to  secure  money  that  is  to  be  paid  to  teachers 
in  salaries,  but  easy  to  secure  it  for  new  buildings  ?  How 
many  have  talked  with  their  county  or  city  officials  about 
the  importance  of  quality  in  school  work,  and  the  relation  of 
quality  to  the  salaries  paid  to  teachers.  How  many  know 
how  their  salaries  compare  with  the  wages  of  skilled  and 
unskilled  laborers  in  the  community  ?  l  Or  how  many  know 
how  their  salaries  compare  with  the  salaries  received  by 

1  The  Baltimore  and  Ohio,  New  York  Central,  Pennsylvania,  Lackawanna, 
and  Big  Four  Railroad  Companies  reported  the  following  average  wages  of 
employees  in  1913: 

Passenger        Passenger        Freight        Freight 
Conductor      Brakeman      Conductor    Brakeman 

Baltimore  and  Ohio $1574-  $096.75         $1219.15         $834.95 

New  York  Central 1626.79  1017.18  1322.60  877.95 

Pennsylvania 1636.  961.75  1326.55  901.72 

Lackawanna   1636.69  954-41  1296.78  864.94 

Big  Four 176774  1027.57  1313-50  859.80 


ORGANIZED  LANGUAGE  TRADITION         239 

teachers  in  other  departments  of  the  same  school  ?  1  No 
plea  for  the  righteousness  of  paying  respectable  salaries  will 
have  any  weight  until  the  teachers  support  their  cause  with 
definite  knowledge.  When  men  and  women  make  clear  to 
school  officials  that  they  are  teaching  an  all-important  sub- 
ject, that  they  want  to  teach  it  as  well  as  it  can  be  taught, 
that  they  are  working  overtime  and  receiving  half  pay,  and 
that  they  know  the  money  for  making  the  necessary  changes 
is  to  be  had,  a  new  order  will  be  brought  into  existence. 
Incidentally,  everyone  will  hold  the  English  teacher  in 
greater  respect ;  and  he  will  have  infinitely  greater  respect 
for  himself. 

IV.  THE  FUNDAMENTAL  CHARACTER  OF  OUR  NEEDS 

To  be  sure,  the  changes  I  have  suggested  in  this  chapter 
are  not  the  only  ones  that  might  grow  logically  from  a  study 
of  what  the  French  are  doing.  A  great  many  others,  either 
remote  in  their  bearing  or  minor  in  their  importance,  might 
well  claim  attention.  Some  one  may  wonder  why  I  have 
not  said  more  about  the  possible  influence  of  separate  educa- 
tion on  pupils'  work;  some  one  else  may  be  disappointed 
because  I  have  not  traced  the  influence  of  French  home  dis- 
cipline as  it  is  revealed  in  the  written  work  of  pupils ;  and 
still  others  may  regret  that  I  have  not  spoken  at  greater 
length  concerning  the  devices  of  individual  teachers.  These 
matters  have  their  significance.  But  our  chief  needs  are 
immediate  in  their  bearing,  and  they  are  fundamental  in 
character.    In  so  far  as  the  mother  tongue  is  concerned,  the 

1  In  some  high  schools,  the  teacher  of  manual  training,  I  have  found, 
receives  almost  twice  as  large  a  salary  as  the  teacher  of  English.  In  one 
large  school  that  occupies  a  building  which  cost  $225,000,  the  manual  train- 
ing teacher  two  years  ago  received  $1600,  the  head  of  the  department  of 
English,  $810. 


240    HOW  THE  FRENCH  BOY  LEARNS  TO  WRITE 

essential  difference  between  our  procedure  and  that  of  the 
French  is  that  the  French  have  viewed  their  problem  in  the 
large  and  have  then  determined  at  the  outset  the  chief 
things  essential  to  its  solution,  while  we  have  given  our 
attention  to  small  matters  that  are  of  consequence  only  after 
general  lines  of  procedure  —  which  we  have  not  adopted  — 
have  been  agreed  upon.  We  have,  too  frequently,  taxed 
our  ingenuity  to  the  utmost  to  develop  methods  of  doing 
work  that,  in  most  instances,  should  not  be  done  at  all. 
We  must  approach  from  the  other  side.  Devices  that  have 
to  do  with  small  matters  will  avail  little  so  long  as  they  must 
be  used  as  a  system  of  correctives  in  an  educational  scheme 
that  is  faulty  in  larger,  more  fundamental  ways.  When  we 
can  have  readjustments  in  school  organization  that  will 
make  the  effective  teaching  of  English  possible;  when  we 
have  taken  up  our  work  in  the  community  with  greater  zeal; 
when  we  have  learned  better  how  to  guide  pupils  in  pre- 
paring to  write,  so  that  writing  will  not  seem  unnatural  and 
unrelated  to  other  activities;  when  we  have  reestablished 
ourselves  on  a  sound  basis  of  grammar  and  have  turned  to 
the  early  reading  and  memorizing  of  good  literature;  when 
teachers  are  more  thoroughly  trained,  and  when  teachers 
and  school  officials  alike  are  content  to  pursue  methods  that 
are  sound,  whether  or  not  they  are  easy  or  novel;  —  when 
we  have  carefully  readjusted  ourselves  in  these  respects,  we 
may  hope  to  make  more  rapid  progress  in  helping  our  boys 
and  girls  to  write  well.    We  can  scarcely  hope  for  it  before. 


APPENDIX 


APPENDIX 

(A)   BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Inasmuch  as  the  preceding  pages  are  so  very  largely  the 
result  of  first-hand  observation,  I  make  no  pretense  of  offering  a 
comprehensive  bibliography.  If,  however,  anyone  wishes  to 
carry  out  an  investigation  of  his  own,  he  will  find  the  following 
books  and  articles  valuable  in  making  preparation. 

PRINTED  IN  FRENCH 

Annates  du  Baccalaureat.    Librairie  Vuibert. 

Instructions  concernant  les  programmes  de  V Enseignement  second- 
are.  274  pages  (in  191 2).  These  directions  and  suggestions 
are,  of  course,  revised  from  time  to  time.  Librairie  Charles 
Delagrave. 

Plan  d' 'etudes  et  programmes  de  V Enseignement  secondaire:  des 
Garqons;  des  Filles.    Librairie  Vuibert. 

Plan  d' 'etudes  et  programmes  d' enseignement  des  Ecoles  primaires. 

(a)  Ecoles  maternelles. 

(b)  Ecoles  primaires  elementaires. 

(c)  Ecoles  primaires  superieures. 

(d)  Ecoles  normales  d'instituteurs. 

(e)  Ecoles  normales  d'institutrices. 
Librairie  Delalain  Freres. 


Bezard:  La  classe  de  franqais.  Journal  d'un  Prof esseur  dans 
une  division  de  Seconde  C  (Latin-Sciences).  320  pages. 
Librairie  Vuibert. 

De   la  Methode   litteraire.     Journal   d'un   Professeur   dans 
une  classe  de  Premiere.    738  pages.    Librairie  Vuibert. 
Comment  apprendre  le  latin  a  nos  fils.     424  pages.     Li- 
brairie Vuibert. 


244  APPENDIX 

E.  Bouchendhomme:  De  VEnseignement  du  franqais.  211 
pages.    Librairie  Armand  Colin. 

Brucker  et  Caustier:  VEnseignement  des  leqons  de  choses.  189 
pages.  Conferences  du  Musee  pedagogique,  191 2.  Im- 
primerie  Nationale. 

F.  Brunot:  VEnseignement  de  la  Langue  franqaise.  192  pages. 
Librairie  Armand  Colin. 

Cellerier  et  Dugas:  VAnnte  pedagogique.  Librairie  Felix 
Alcan.  An  annual  review  of  education  and  educational 
articles. 

E.  Delalain:  Annuaire  de  V Instruction  publique.  Librairie 
Delalain  Freres.  A  classified  directory  of  all  the  officers  of 
instruction  and  teachers  in  the  universities,  normal  schools, 
special  schools,  and  secondary  schools  of  France.  It  includes 
also  the  officers  of  instruction,  but  not  the  teachers,  of  the 
upper  primary  schools.  A  glance  through  the  volume  gives 
one  a  good  notion  of  the  system  in  French  education. 

A.  Gazier:  Traite  d 'explication  franqaise.  218  pages.  Librairie 
Belin  Freres. 

G.  Lanson,  G.  Rudler,  A.  Cahen,  et  J.  Bezard:  VEnseignement 
du  franqais.  197  pages.  Conferences  du  Musee  Pedago- 
gique, 1909.  Imprimerie  Nationale.  This  book  is  a  report 
of  one  of  the  round-table  meetings  held  from  time  to  time  at 
the  Mus6e  Pedagogique  in  Paris. 

M.  Michel:  Notions  elementaires  de  Grammaire  historique.    146 

pages.    Librairie  Belin  Freres. 
Mutelet  et  Dangueuger:    Programmes  officiels  des  £coles  pri- 

maires  eUmentaires:    interpretation,   divisions,   emplois   du 

temps.    268  pages.    Librairie  Hachette  et  Cie. 
L.  Poitrinal:  Comment  enseigner  le  franqais  a  VEcole  primaire. 

142  pages.    Librairie  Charles  Delagrave. 
Ribot  Commission  (The) :  Enquete  sur  V enseignement  secondaire. 

Imprimerie  Nationale.    See  the  testimony  that  deals  with 

the  teaching  of  languages. 
G.   Rudler:    V Explication  franqaise.     249   pages.     Librairie 

Armand  Colin. 


APPENDIX  245 

H.  Vuibert:  Annuaire  de  la  Jeunesse.  Librairie  Vuibert.  This 
annual  volume  is  indispensable  to  one  who  wishes  to  be  in- 
formed on  French  education  from  year  to  year.  The  issue 
for  1913  contains  1196  pages  of  sound  information. 

A.  Wissemans:  Nouveau  Code  de  I' Instruction  primaire.  924 
pages  (in  191 2).  Librairie  Hachette  et  Cie.  This  volume, 
known  as  the  Code  Pichard,  is  a  classified  arrangement  of  all 
national  laws  that  touch  the  primary  school  system. 
Code  de  VEnseignement  secondaire.  419  pages  (in  1910). 
Librairie  Hachette  et  Cie. 

PRINTED  IN  ENGLISH 

English  Board  of  Education:  Special  Reports  on  Educational 
Subjects.  Vol.  24.  554  pages.  This  volume  is  devoted  to 
secondary  and  university  education  in  France.  It  contains 
much  information  about  French  secondary  schools,  including 
a  substantial  article  on  The  Teaching  of  the  Mother  Tongue, 
by  Arthur  H.  Hope.  Some  of  the  material  for  the  report 
(not,  however,  for  any  part  of  Mr.  Hope's  article)  was 
secured  as  early  as  1898  and  1900,  so  that  it  is  now  a  little 
out  of  date.  The  volume  is,  however,  valuable  as  a  means  of 
comparing  English  and  French  education.  Wyman  and  Sons, 
London.     191 1. 

Frederic  Ernest  Farrington:  The  Public  Primary  School  System 
of  France.  303  pages.  Published  by  Columbia  University. 
1906. 

French  Secondary  Schools.    450  pages.    Longmans,  Green, 
and  Company.     19 10. 

These  two  books  give  excellent  accounts  of  the  develop- 
ment and  present  organization  of  the  French  primary  and 
secondary  school  systems. 

P.  J.  Hartog:  The  Writing  of  English.  164  pages.  This  small 
book  includes  an  account  of  some  visits  that  the  author  made 
to  French  classes  in  the  mother  tongue  several  years  ago. 
The  Clarendon  Press,  Oxford.    1907. 

Karl  Young:  Composition  Teaching  in  French  Lycees.  English 
Journal,  June,  191 2. 


246  APPENDIX 

(B)  THE  MOTHER  TONGUE  IN  THE  PRIMARY 
NORMAL  SCHOOL1 

First  year    five  hours  a  week 

Second  year four  hours  a  week 

Third  year four  hours  a  week 

I.    READING  AND  RECITATION 

(Three  hours  a  week  in  the  first  and  second  years  [two  hours  a  week  in  the 

third  year].) 

The  reading  aloud  of  classical  works.  The  explication  of  the 
chief  pieces;  the  memorization  of  the  most  important  passages. 

Personal  readings  indicated  by  the  instructor  or  chosen  under 
his  direction  by  the  student. 

II.    GRAMMAR  AND   GRAMMATICAL  EXERCISES 

(One  hour  a  week  in  the  first  year  [and  the  third  year].) 

Analytical  study  of  grammar,  illuminated  by  some  essential 
notions  of  historical  grammar. 

Exercises,  chiefly  oral,  in  orthography  and  vocabulary,  and 
in  grammatical  and  logical  analysis. 

III.    EXERCISES  IN  COMPOSITION 

(One  hour  a  week  each  year.) 

Programme 

First  Year 

Readings  to  form  the  literary  taste  of  the  students  and  to 
interest  them  in  problems  of  conduct.     For  example: 
Corneille:  Le  Cid.  —  Horace.  —  Cinna.  —  Polyeucte. 
Racine:  Andromaque.  — Britannicus.  — Athalie. 
Moliere:  L'Avare.  — Le  Bourgeois  gentilhomme. 
La  Fontaine:  Several  fables. 

1  Translated  from  the  programmes  of  study 


APPENDIX  247 

Boileau:  Selections  from  the  Satires  and  VArt  poetique. 

Bossuet:  Oraison  funebre  d'Henriette  d'  Angleterre.  — Sermon  sur 
la  mort.  —  Meditation  sur  la  brievete  de  la  vie. 

Pascal:  Several  thoughts.     Les  deux  infinis. 

La  Bruyere:  Portraits  and  meditations  (Chapters  de  V Homme 
and  des  Jugements,  du  Merite  personnel,  selections). 

Mme  de  Sevigne:  Selected  letters. 

Lamartine:  Milly.  —  La  Mort  de  Socrate. 

Victor  Hugo :  Ce  qu'on  entend  sur  la  montagne.  —  Ceux  qui 
vivent  ce  sont  ceux  qui  luttent.  —  Ultima  verba.  —  Le  mariage 
de  Roland.  —  Les  Pauvres  Gens. 

Selected  Moralistes  of  the  seventeenth,  eighteenth,  and  nine- 
teenth centuries. 

Nisard,  Sainte-Beuve:  Some  pages  of  criticism  on  Bossuet 
Boileau,  Racine,  and  Moliere. 

Second  Year 
(This  list  is  given,  as  the  preceding,  by  way  of  suggestion.) 
i.  Middle  Ages: 

Chanson  de  Roland. 

Selections  from  Mysteres. 

L'avocat  Pathelin. 

The  chronicle  writers  and  especially  Joinville. 

Villon:  Ballade  des  pendus. 

2.  Renaissance: 

(a)  Prose  writers. 
Rabelais:  Selections. 
Amyot:  Selections. 

Montaigne:  Lettre  sur  la  mort  de  la  Boetie.  —  Selections 
on  friendship. 

(b)  Poets. 

Some  poems  by  Marot,  Ronsard,  and  du  Bellay. 

3.  The  seventeenth  century: 
La  Rochefoucauld:  Maximes. 
La  Bruyere:  The  Caracteres. 
La  Fontaine:  Several  fables. 


248  APPENDIX 

Moliere:  Le  Misanthrope. 

Boileau:  Art  poetique,  Canto  IV  (le  Poete  honnete  homme). 

Selected  letters  of  the  century. 

4.  The  eighteenth  century: 

Montesquieu:  Considerations:  The  comparison  of  Rome  and 
Carthage  (Compare  with  Bossuet). — Esprit  des  lots: 
Chapter  XXV,  §  5  and  13.     Chapter  XIX,  §  5. 

Voltaire:  Selected  letters.  —  Siecle  de  Louis  XIV  (Chapter 
XXXII).  Selections  from  his  stories  and  from  his  Dic- 
tionnaire  philosophique. 

Rousseau:  Lettre  a  Voltaire  sur  le  desastre  de  Lisbonne.  — 
Lettre  a  d'Alembert  sur  les  spectacles  (selections).  Entile: 
Books  I,  II  (selections).  —  Reveries  du  Promeneur  solitaire 
(selections). 

Diderot:  Selections. 

5.  Revolution  and  nineteenth  century: 

Discourses  or  parts  of  discourses  by  Mirabeau,  Vergniaud, 

Danton,  Benjamin  Constant,  Royer-Collard,  Lamartine, 

Thiers,  Gambetta,  J.  Ferry. 
Chateaubriand:  Extracts  from  Martyrs,  from  Vltineraire  de 

Paris  a  Jerusalem,  and  from  Memoires  d'Outre-Tombe. 
A.   Thierry:     Recits   Merovingiens    (the    4th).  —  Dix    ans 

d' Etudes  historique  (selections). 
Guizot :  Essais  sur  VHistoire  de  France  (The  fifth :  Essai  sur 

la  Feodalite). 
Michelet:  Histoire  de  France  (fifteenth  century)  and  extracts 

from  Volume  I  of  the  Histoire  de  la  Revolution. 
Lamartine:  Jocelyn:  ninth  epoque  (Les  Laboureurs). 
Hugo:  0  souvenirs,  printemps,  aurore.  — A  Villequier.  — 

L 'expiation.  —  Lux. 
Musset:  La  Nuit  de  Mai. 
Vigny:  La  Mort  du  Loup.  —  La  Bouteille  a  la  Mer. 

Third  Year 

Explication  of  texts two  hours  a  week 

Composition  one  hour  a  week 

Grammar one  hour  a  week 


APPENDIX  249 

Explication  of  Texts 

First  part.  —  Readings  and  comments  designed  to  illuminate  the 

following  subjects: 
Classic  tragedy  and  romantic  drama. 
Comedy  since  Moliere:  Marivaux,  Beaumarchais,  E.  Augier. 
The  transformation  of  history  in  the  nineteenth  century: 

from  Augustin  Thierry  to  Fustel  de  Coulanges. 
The  novel  in  the  nineteenth  century:  Hugo,  Sand,  Balzac, 

Flaubert,  Zola,  Daudet. 
The  principal  masters  of  literary  criticism  in  the  nineteenth 

century:  Nisard,  Sainte-Beuve,  Taine. 
The  great  modern  poets :  Chenier,  Lamartine,  Hugo,  Musset, 

Vigny,  Leconte  de  Lisle,  Sully-Prudhomme. 

Second  part.  —  Reading  of  the  masterpieces  of  ancient  literature 
and  of  modern  foreign  literature. 

The  Iliad  (Books  VI,  XXII,  XXIII,  XXIV). 

The  Odyssey  (Books  VI,  XI,  XXIII). 

^Eschylus:  The  Persians. 

Sophocles:  CEdipus  Rex.  — Philoctetes. 

Euripides:  Iphigenia  at  Aulis.  —  Alcestis. 

Aristophanes:  The  Wasps  (selections). 

Demosthenes:  Philippics  (the  first). 

Plutarch:  Two  of  the  Lives  (in  comparison). 

Plato:  Apology.  —  The  end  of  Phaedo.  —  Crito. 

Lucretius:  On  the  Nature  of  Things. 

Vergil:  Georgics  (episodes).  —  The  JEneid  (Books  VI  and  LX). 

Caesar:  The  War  against  the  Gauls.  Book  VI.  The  cus- 
toms of  the  Gauls. 

Tacitus:  Annals:  Book  VI.  Death  of  Tiberius.  —  Book 
XVI.     Nero  on  the  theatre. 

Shakespeare:  Macbeth.  —  Richard  III.  —  Hamlet. 

Goethe:  Iphigenie. 

Schiller:   William  Tell. 


25  o  APPENDIX 

Dante:  The  Divine  Comedy:  Inferno  (Cantos  I,  II,  III,  VII, 

xxxrv,  xxxvi). 

Cervantes:  Don  Quixote  (selections). 
Third  part.  —  Selection  of  readings  for  the  popular  lectures.1 

Pedagogical  Directions 

The  instructions  which  have  been  given  relative  to  the  teach- 
ing of  French  in  the  first  and  second  years  apply  for  the  most  part 
to  the  exercises  of  the  third  year.  It  is  necessary,  however,  that 
the  personal  work  of  the  students  increase  steadily  and  that  the 
part  of  the  instructor  be  diminished  and  modified.  For  this 
reason,  only  two  classes  a  week  in  reading  are  maintained  in  the 
third  year,  —  classes  that  sometimes  require  of  the  student  four 
or  five  hours  of  preparation  [for  each].  The  instructor  ought 
less  and  less  to  explain  or  even  to  question.  It  is  the  student  who 
ought  to  speak  in  a  continuous  manner,  so  that  the  instructor 
may  form  an  opinion  of  his  knowledge,  his  method,  and  the 
sureness  of  his  judgment,  and  give  him  efficacious  counsel.  The 
most  delicate  task  from  the  very  first  is  to  encourage  the  student: 
he  must  express  his  own  thought;  there  cannot  be  any  develop- 
ment or  even  intellectual  honesty,  except  at  this  price.  It  is 
necessary,  then,  to  encourage  the  student,  to  try  to  discover 
what  there  is  of  value  in  his  thought,  and  make  use  of  this  in 
showing  him  by  what  effort  he  could  have  given  his  work  a 
greater  value.  And,  on  the  other  hand,  the  student  must  be 
helped  in  governing  his  impressions,  in  getting  away  from  pre- 
conceived opinions  and  narrowness,  in  judging  with  good  sense 
and  taste.  The  peril  of  teachers  as  well  as  students  is  always 
among  fixed  formulas,  cut-and-dried  judgments,  puerile  impres- 
sions, or  vain  dogmatism. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  year,  the  instructor  will  do  well  not  to 
give  more  than  twenty  minutes  to  each  outline  or  to  each  read- 
ing explained;  the  student  should  be  obliged  to  proportion  his 
time  for  the  better  confirming  and  fixing  of  his  thought. 

*  These  are  discussed  in  a  later  paragraph. 


APPENDIX  251 

Literary  Readings 

The  programme  permits  of  two  kinds  of  readings: 

The  first  are  designed  to  complete  the  knowledge  that  the 
students  already  have  of  French  literature.  These  readings  will 
bring  to  mind  again  certain  works  that  are  the  expression  of  an 
historical  movement,  either  because  they  are  explained  by  it,  or 
because  they  have  helped  to  create  it. 

The  others  are  drawn  from  the  masterpieces  of  ancient  and 
modern  foreign  literatures,  —  from  the  works  about  which 
Sainte-Beuve  said,  "No  one  is  a  man  who  does  not  know  them." 
It  has  not  seemed  right  to  deprive  future  teachers  of  readings 
which,  for  being  done  in  translations,  are  none  the  less  sources  of 
pure  enjoyment  and  of  inspiration  to  a  more  complete  and  a 
higher  human  nature. 

These  two  kinds  of  works  need  not  be  studied  in  the  same 
manner,  but  both  of  them  call  for  an  effort  to  get  out  of  oneself, 
to  put  oneself  in  another  time,  in  another  society,  in  conditions 
which  are  new  for  us;  and  it  is  this  effort  that  is,  strictly  speak- 
ing, educative.  When  one  perceives  that  he  is  not  so  much  of  a 
stranger  as  he  had  at  first  thought  to  the  profound  ways  of 
thinking,  of  feeling,  and  living  that  are  revealed  to  him,  he  is  at 
the  same  time  both  invigorated  and  enriched.  It  is  well  that  the 
student-teachers  have  this  double  experience.  The  instructor 
who  aids  them  in  enjoying  it  has  well  performed  his  duty,  it 
matters  little  what  method  he  has  followed:  it  is  good  assuredly. 

Popular  Readings 

Concerning  the  readings  for  the  popular  lectures,  one  will  do 
well  to  consult  the  article  by  Sainte-Beuve  (Causeries  dn  Lundi), 
the  pamphlet  by  Monsieur  Bouchor,  and  the  collection  of  read- 
ings published  by  the  Philotechnical  Association.  One  will  see 
how  to  choose  the  readings  and  how  to  present  them.  In  the 
course  of  the  third  year,  groups  of  students  will  have  practice  in 
giving  readings  (recreation  for  the  evening,  afternoon,  or  Sunday) 
to  their  fellow  students.      Each  third-year  student  will  have 


252  APPENDIX 

charge,  in  his  turn,  of  organizing  these  meetings,  of  reading  the 
works,  and  of  supplying  in  brief  explanations  the  necessary 
setting  and  connection  of  the  scenes  or  the  parts  read.  In  the 
class  in  literature  the  instructor  will  discuss  questions  of  choice, 
methods  of  presentation,  and  will  prepare,  with  students,  a  list 
of  works,  both  prose  selections  and  poems,  suitable  for  popu- 
lar readings. 

It  would  be  worth  while  to  invite  the  oldest  pupils  in  the 
practice-school  and  their  parents  to  attend  these  student 
readings. 

Composition 

The  pupils  of  the  third  year  should  each  fortnight  prepare  a 
composition,  but  it  may  be  on  a  subject  drawn  from  literature, 
history,  ethics,  or  education.  It  will,  naturally,  be  corrected  by 
the  instructor  best  fitted  for  the  task.  It  is  not  indispensable 
that  all  the  pupils  treat  the  same  subject;  it  is  preferable  that 
the  instructor  often  propose  several  to  choose  from,  and  leave 
the  student  free  to  treat  one  within  a  given  time.  It  is  sufficient 
that  each  composition  be  submitted  on  the  day  appointed. 

Grammar  and  Reading 

Here  it  is  a  question  of  exercises  that  are  suited  to  the  primary 
school.  It  is  not  expected  that  the  instructor  make  a  system- 
atic, complete  course  in  grammar.  He  should  not  forget,  either, 
that  in  the  primary  school  "  one  must  learn  grammar  through 
the  language  and  not  the  language  through  the  grammar." 
The  instructor  will  choose  in  the  programmes  of  the  primary 
schools  a  certain  number  of  subjects  that  he  will  have  the 
student-teachers  treat,  either  in  the  form  of  outlines,  or  in  the 
form  of  exercises  of  which  they  should  justify  the  choice,  the  prep- 
aration, and  the  correction.     The  following  should  be  treated: 

(i)  Language  exercises;  (2)  the  principal  rules  of  agreement 
among  words;  (3)  the  principal  rules  of  construction  of  sen- 
tences; (4)  the  formation  and  derivation  of  words;  (5)  gram- 
matical analysis;  (6)  logical  analysis;  (7)  composition. 


APPENDIX  253 

In  a  second  part  of  the  recitation  the  instructor  will  direct  the 
making  of  such  readings,  with  explanations,  as  are  suited  to 
the  primary  school. 

One  must  not  believe  that  this  exercise  is  without  import  sim- 
ply because  the  pupils  for  whom  it  is  designed  are  absent;  one  can 
well  discuss  the  choice  of  the  piece,  its  length,  the  method  of 
reading  and  explaining,  the  expressions  that  it  is  worth  while  to 
speak  about  because  of  the  audience  to  which  one  will  address 
himself,  etc.  To  require  the  student-teacher  to  read  a  simple 
piece  well,  and  then  to  summarize  the  meaning,  and  then  to 
indicate  the  development,  is  a  useful  exercise  that  may  give 
rise  to  some  criticisms  as  much  more  efficacious  as  they  are 
immediate.  The  student-teacher  who  can  best  imagine  what  a 
pupil  would  say  or  ought  to  say  is  the  one  who  will  later  guide  the 
pupil  best. 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Ability  of  the  French  teacher  to  ques-    Conscientiousness    of     the    French 


tion,  199. 
Academies,  area  of,  11. 

number  of,  11. 
Adjustments  necessary  to  language 

tradition  in  America,  212. 
Agrdgation,  180. 
Arrete  of  July,  1910,  96. 

Baccalaureate  examination,  71,  179, 
181. 

subjects  for  composition  in,  71. 
Bachelier,  179,  182. 
Bezard,  J.,  129. 
Bibliography,  243. 
Bonaparte,  Napoleon,  quoted,  74. 
Brevet,  616mentaire,  176. 

superieur,  176. 
Brunot,  Ferdinand,  quoted,  108. 

Certificat    d'aptitude    pedagogique, 

177. 
Chateaubriand,   Francois   Ren6   de, 

quoted,  74. 
Ch6nier,  Andre,  quoted,  122. 
Class  in  French  school,  explained,  16. 
Class  periods  in  the  mother  tongue, 

internal  arrangement  of,  100. 
Composition,    the    French    attitude 

toward,  46. 
Composition  and  literature,  225. 
Compositions    (see    also    Themes), 

subjects  for,  66. 
in  the  baccalaurate  examination, 

7i- 
Compression    of    American    school 
course  recommended,  215. 


teacher,  197. 
Contrast,  the  basis  of  word-teaching, 

54- 
Course,  in  the  primary  schools,  14. 

in  the  secondary  schools,  14. 
Courses    of    study    in    the    mother 

tongue,  unity  of,  15. 
Criticism    of    themes,    constructive 
82. 
ideals  in,  79. 

methods  employed  in,  81. 
oral,  81. 
spirit  of,  83. 

Daudet,  Alphonse,  quoted,  59,  103. 
D6partement,    division  of  an  acad- 

6mie,  188. 
Dictation,  accuracy  of  French  pupils 
in  taking,  60. 

specimens  of,  59,  60. 

value  of,  dwelt  upon  by  French 
teachers,  57. 

value  of,  in  teaching  spelling, 
61. 
Direct  method  in  the  teaching  of 
foreign  languages,  163. 

accepted  in  1828, 163. 

adopted   for   the    modern   lan- 
guages in  1902,  162. 

applied  to  the  teaching  of  Eng- 
lish in  France,  163. 

efficacy  of,  169. 

explication  of  texts  in,  167. 

grammar  in,  164. 

influence    of    on    the    mother 
tongue,  170. 


257 


258 


INDEX 


Directeur,  directrice,  187. 
Directeurs  (de  l'Enseignement) ,  11. 
Distribution  of  exercises  in  writing, 

46,  67,  219. 
Dual    organization    of    the    French 
schools,  12. 

ficole  normale  superieure,  181,  182. 
English  classics,  importance  of  teach- 
ing in  America,  224. 
Enthusiasm  of  the  French  teacher, 

198. 
Examination  for  the  baccalaureate, 
179,  181. 
per  cent  of  successful  applicants 
in,  for  191 2,  180. 
Explication  of   texts,   characteristic 
comment  in,  126. 
example  of,  129. 
organization  of  ideas  in,  125. 
origin  of,  123. 
reading  aloud  in,  128. 
value  of,  148. 

word-by-word     knowledge     re- 
quired in,  124. 

Foreign  languages,  155. 
France,  Anatole,  quoted,  68,  76. 
Franco-Prussian   War,  influence   of 

on  France,  6. 
Franklin,  Benjamin,  quoted,  105. 

Graduate  study  of  English  in  Ameri- 
can universities,  233. 
Grammar,  close  relation  of  to  other 
work,  99. 
complete  passages  of  prose  used 

in  the  study  of,  103. 
early  beginning  in  the  study  of, 

91. 
historical,  no. 
inductive  method  in,  107. 
oral  exercises  in,  102. 


predominant  purpose  in  teach- 
ing, 90. 

sentence,  the  center  of  study  in, 
106. 

simplification  in  the  teaching  of, 

93- 

Grammatical  nomenclature,  simpli- 
fied and  unified,  96. 

Greek,  155,  159. 

Half-tints    in    Lamartine's    images, 

144. 
Historical  grammar,  no. 
Hours  devoted  by  teachers  of   the 

mother  tongue  to   classroom 

work,  190. 
Hugo,  Victor,  quoted,  72,  74. 

Inductive  method  in  teaching  gram- 
mar, 107. 
Inspection,  188. 

the  value  of,  189. 
Inspectors,  n. 

general,  188. 

of  the  academie,  188. 

relation  of  to  recteur,  188. 

special  primary,  188. 
Instituteur  and  professeur,  196. 
Instructions,    quoted,    49,  90,   no 
150. 

Joubert,  Joseph,  quoted,  72. 

Lack     of     language     tradition     in 

America,  210. 
Lamar  tine,  Alphonse  de,  quoted,  131, 

133,  135,  147- 
Lamartine's  diction,  139. 
Lamartinian    rhythm    and    images, 

141. 
Language  tradition  in  France,  208. 
Latin,  155. 

classroom  method  in,  156. 


INDEX 


259 


close  relation  of  to  French,  159. 
dominant  purpose  in  teaching, 

159- 

early  beginning  in  the  study  of, 

156,  160. 
Frenchman's    attitude    toward, 

156. 
per  cent  of  pupils  in  lycee  who 

take,  156. 
taught  by  the  teacher  of  French, 
160. 
Latin  composition,  158. 
L'lsolement  of  Lamar  tine,  131. 
Lecons  de  choses,  51. 
Licencie,  180. 
Literature,  114. 

Literature  and  theme-writing,  152. 
Litt.  D.  degree,  proposed  as  a  degree 

in  course,  236. 
Lycee,  compared  with  the  primary 
school,  12. 

Maeterlinck,  Maurice,  quoted,  72. 
Material  for  themes,  63. 

importance  attached  to,  63. 

preparation  of,  75. 

sincerity  the  aim  in  assigning, 

64. 
specimen  assignments  of,  66. 
teacher's  assistance  in  the  prep- 
aration of,  75. 
threefold  purpose  in  assigning, 
64. 
Memorizing,  225. 

Memory    exercises    in    reading    and 
literature,  149. 
value  of,  151. 
Minister  of  Public  Instruction,  11. 
Modern  languages,  162. 

status  of  before  1902,  162. 
status  of  since  1902,  162. 
direct  method  in  the  teaching  of, 
163. 


Mother  tongue  in  the  primary  nor- 
mal school,  246. 

Normal  school,  superior,  181. 
Normal    schools,    in    the    primary 
system,  176. 

Odeon  theatre,  117. 

Oral  composition,  as  preparation  for 

writing,  76. 

and  reading,  122. 
Oral  exercises  in  grammar,  102. 

Pascal,  Blaise,  quoted,  137. 
Pensions  for  teachers,  194. 
Ph.D.  degree,  234. 
Preparation  of  teachers,  175. 
Primaire,  explained,  12. 
Programmes, 

for  the  primary  schools,  adopted 

in  1887.  14. 
for     the     secondary      schools, 

adopted  in  1902,  14. 
Programmes  of  study  in  the  mother 

tongue,  translation  of,  18. 
Proviseur,  187. 

Quality,  importance  of  in  classroom 
work,  228. 

Reading,  114. 

activity  in  classes  in,  118. 

influence  of  the  stage  on,  117. 

subject-matter  of  courses  in,  114. 

teacher's  skill  in,  121. 

training  in,  in  lower  grades,  119. 
Recteur,  n. 

relation  to  inspectors,  188. 
Residential   indemnity   of   teachers, 

192. 
Respect    of    pupil    for    teacher    in 
France,  203. 


260 


INDEX 


RhStorique  supSrieure,  183,  185. 

study  of  the  mother  tongue  in, 

183. 
Ribot  Commission,  162. 
Rivarol,  Antoine  de,  quoted,  5. 
Ronsard,  Pierre  de,  quoted,  72. 
Rousseau,  Jean- Jacques,  quoted,  70, 

137- 

Sainte-Beuve,  quoted,  69,  251. 

Salaries  of  teachers,  191. 

compared  with  American  sala- 
ries, 193. 

Secondaire,  explained,  12. 

Seriousness  of  the  French  school, 
205. 

Spelling,  61. 

Spirit  of  the  French  school,  203. 

Stael,  Madame  de,  quoted,  72. 

Stagiaire,  177,  189. 

Superior  normal  school  (see  also 
ficole  normale  supeneure), 
181,  182. 

Teacher,  the  French,  174. 
and  his  school,  203. 
foreign  language  in  the  training 

of,  176,  185. 
his  ability  to  question,  199. 
his  conscientiousness,  197. 
his  enthusiasm,  198. 
his  incidental  teaching,  201. 
his  life  within  the  school,  187. 
his  pension,  194. 
his  position,  185. 
his  promotions,  194. 
his  relation  to   the  inspectors, 

188. 
his  relation  to  the  proviseur  (or 

directeur)  187. 
his  relation  to  the  state,  185. 
his  residential  indemnity,  192. 
his  salary,  191. 


his  standing  in  the  community, 

186. 
maturity  of,  202. 
preparation  of,  in  the  primary 

system,  175. 
preparation  of,  in  the  secondary 

system,  179. 
pupil's  respect  for,  203 . 
training  of  in  the  mother  tongue, 
178,  181,  246. 
Teachers,  finding  and  preparing  in 
America,  229. 
position  of  in  America,  237. 
Theme-correcting,       overdeveloped, 

222. 
Themes,  criticism  of,  79. 

economy  in  the  grading  of,  84. 
grading  of,  82. 
Theme-writing    and    the    study    of 

literature,  152. 
Thiers,  Adolphe,  quoted,  72. 
Training  of  teachers  of  the  mother 
tongue  in  France,  178,  181. 
compared     with     training     in 
America,  184. 

Vocabulary,  48. 

aim  in  lessons  in,  49. 

enlarging    and    organizing    the, 

48. 
method  of  teaching,  50. 
scope  of  the  lessons  in,  55. 
study  of,  recommended,  220. 
value  of  lessons  in,  56. 

Wages   paid   to   American   railroad 

employees,  238. 
Writing  (see  also  Composition  and 
Themes),  46. 
abundance    of,   in   the    French 

schools,  46, 87. 
and  speaking  in  other  subjects. 
86. 


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